11:52
This is still the biggest gamble I have ever made in my life. It's still 50/50 if this is gonna be a sustainable chouse house, whatever you want to call it, or if it's going to be what bankrupts me. But I have this inner feeling of peace every time I'm in here. That's kind of what drives me. I purchased an 128-year-old church in a small town in Michigan for $45,000, and I turned it into my dream home. This is my chouse, aka a church that's now a house. I lived in New York for over 30 years before I decided to move to Michigan. I had been on a nationwide search for an old church to convert into my home. That was the reason I left.
I've wanted to live in an old church since I was young, actually going to church with my grandparents. I have been obsessed with stained glass ever since. I love the idea of living in a place where so many people gathered together. It wasn't necessarily a religious thing, but it was a stained glass thing. I actually found the parsonage House on Zillow, and it said it came with a free church. So originally, the house was listed for $125,000 with the free church. And then the lot was listed at 19 9. Based on the condition of the property, I just negotiated really hard and got them down to $45,000 for everything. I paid cash, so I don't have any debt.
There are no mortgages. It took somewhere between 3 and 4 years to save up the 250 grand. The utilities are my favorite part because they're so cheap. For the house and the chouse, electric, water, sewer and trash was $256. When I first walked in I just got goosebumps because it was like everything that my brain had been imagining was literally in one place. I definitely fell in love with it at first sight, despite all of the issues that it had. I did everything you're not supposed to do when you buy a house, but it's a chouse, so it's okay. I immediately started renovating in June of 2024. The first thing I had to do was put a new roof on both buildings and then gutters, and it was more about waterproofing and then starting to address all the water issues
because both buildings had massive problems. I'm no stranger to old houses, abandoned houses or condemned houses. I've had experience renovating some of them in the past, so I just kind of looked at this as like a house flip on steroids, except I wasn't flipping this one. So I first moved into the house. Then that had its host of challenges. I was basically camping in my house for about a year and a half. I moved to a place I didn't know a single person. So just even finding help and finding people that aren't going to take my money and run, because that actually happened, or people that do quality work. It's all just a big crapshoot. I tried my best to
contain costs as much as possible. I did pretty much all of the demo in here, installed some floor joists, did the subfloor, I did some drywall, painted almost everything. Obviously I was going to keep the stained glass windows. I am saving up because some of them need restoration work and that's brutally expensive. By the end of March 2025, I was signed on to do the Home Reimagined show on Magnolia. That show helped me get my kitchen, the kitchen cabinets, the appliances, countertop slabs.
I did pay for the fabrication and install, but the flooring they helped pay the carpenters for these amazing bookshelves. There is zero chance I'd be this far along if it wasn't from that support of social media. So the first thing you see when you come in is my living area. Now, originally this floor was sloped by 18 inches, so I had to add custom i-joists. They were 44ft long so that the entire floor could be leveled. And then I had a total rewire of the entire building. So I was able to add some outlets
for my lamps. This is the first window I saw when I walked in here, and this is what sold me. I turned this into just sort of a little conversation slash reading area. I love to paint and draw and craft, so I made this sort of a studio space. Usually it's just where my sketches hang out. I've got Indiana Bones, Captain Jack Marrow, Albert Spineinstein. They're getting ready for spooky season, but they do live here year round. So everyone always wants to know how I heat this building. This is what I use. It's a pellet stove. It helps me keep my winter heating costs down. This is my dining area. These are actually the old pews, so I had them cut down and shortened to make the dining chairs. And then this table is made 95% of old pew parts.
This is the kitchen. This originally had a stage, so the floor was sloped down and then there would have been steps to walk up. This wall was completely closed and I ripped that out and then exposed the brick of the chimney. And then obviously I needed some regular windows that I can A see out of and B that would open up. This island is actually made from an old door that was in the entryway, and then a communion table that I found in the rubble on the rotunda side of the building. I kept open concept in here on purpose because I didn't want to obstruct the view of these windows. And my favorite part of this entire space is my library wall. So the pews that I bought this place with, they were solid white oak. I repurposed those into these bookshelves.
And then the best part, obviously, if you have a library wall like this, you need a rolling ladder. So none of this existed. None of these. These are all brand new walls. So the first thing I did for guests was to add a powder room. So it's small, but it's mighty. I love color and I love bold patterns. This is my bedroom. This is Lady Marmalade. This is General Ginger. They're the actual bosses of this house. So we're standing in the rotunda. This room was empty, save for all the holes in the roof. Um, and a bunch of rubble.
This opening existed. This wall existed. This used to be the church's kitchen. I did mimic the opening on the other side. That is very much under construction right now, but that will eventually be a sitting room and my Barbie dream closet. This is my primary bathroom. Um, it's still under construction, so eventually I will have a glass wall and door for my shower. And I did get to add the bathtub of my dreams, my soaking tub. And I still have a beautiful stained glass window in here too. I'm still not done with this renovation. There are huge big ticket things I still need to do, but I'm in a place now where I need to take a break and let my bank account recover and gear up for those next phases.
I'm hoping to stay under $400K all said and done, but I don't know. It's my personal money pit. So in addition to dreaming about living in a church, I've always wanted to have a bed and breakfast. I love to host people and entertain and I love to travel, so I thought that might be the best of both worlds. So the goal is to renovate the parsonage house and open that as a bed and breakfast. I really hope at the latest early fall of 2028, maybe the spring of 2029, to be welcoming my first guests. Depending on people's beliefs and faiths and whatever else, there have been some mixed reactions to me taking a church and turning it into my home, and I completely understand that. But time and time again, I will run into people at the
grocery store or wherever, and they'll come up to me and they'll say, wow, it's so beautiful. Or thank you for saving that old building, or thank you for cleaning up this neighborhood. I'm content with my decision. I love this, I love this place, I'm head over heels in love with my chouse and nothing will change that for me.
