Bargain property buys: Six church conversions for under $700,000
When real estate agent Steve Allen was called out to appraise an old church that had been relocated and transformed into a community hall in Chakola, about 100 kilometres south of Canberra, he immediately told the vendors he would have to withdraw his services. He wanted to buy it for himself.
“I walked in to do the appraisal and I basically said to the people involved, ‘I need to withdraw from this process, get as many agents out as you wish, and I’ll get an offer out to you by Monday,” he recalls.
Mr Allen has been the proud owner of the former St Bartholomew’s Church in nearby Bredbo — which was moved to its current location in 1934 — for the past five years.
In that time, he has lovingly converted it into a four-bedroom, two-bathroom home, while maintaining many of the building’s original features, including the original alter with stained-glass window.
“It’s certainly been a labour of love,” says Mr Allen, who grew up in the area and recently sold his real estate business in nearby Cooma and relocated to Canberra.
His stunning church conversion is now on the market, with a price guide of $495,000, one of dozens of converted churches and original churches currently for sale around the country.
For anyone who has ever dreamt of converting a church or living in a converted one, many of the former churches currently for sale come with price tags well under $700,000.
Some, like the charming converted church in Brocklesby, 45 kilometres north-west of Albury, are selling for as little as $265,000.
This beautifully restored church features two bedrooms, one bathroom and large open-plan living area, as well as original arched windows and doorways and exterior crosses.
In Invermay, 10 kilometres north of Ballarat, you can buy a one-bedroom, open-plan converted church on 1606 square metres of land for about $580,000 to $620,000.
The charming, white weatherboard church, surrounded by bushland, features a modern bathroom and manicured gardens popular with the local kangaroos.
At Millfield, in the heart of the Hunter Valley, a church hall built in 1932 and converted into a three-bedroom home by its owners for the past 20 years, has just hit the market.
Listing agent Brendan King, of Belle Property Cessnock, says it is difficult to know how much it will sell for, given it is “so unique,” but expects it to be about $700,000.
“You never know what can happen at auction and we’ve had quite a lot of interest in the property. It is situated right next door to the church here and it has a lot of history, with many weddings and various functions over the years,” he said.
The renovated church hall also features a landscaped pool and views that stretch across the valley to the Brokeback mountain ranges.
In Toowoomba, offers over $639,000 are being considered for a converted church originally built in 1885, and now consisting of six bedrooms, three bathrooms and four different living spaces.
The owners of the beautiful home, surrounded by a cottage-style garden, currently use the front two bedrooms as an Airbnb, with an occupancy of over 90 per cent for much of the year.
Anthony MacDonald, of Charles Stewart Real Estate Colac, is running an expression-of-interest campaign for a historical, gothic-style church in Rokewood, a small town less than an hour from Geelong and just 45 kilometres from Meredith in the Golden Plains Shire of Victoria.
Mr MacDonald says the bluestone church, which was built in the 1860s by notable architect Alexander Davidson, has already attracted a significant amount of attention from buyers interested in converting the church into a home or business.
“It’s been on the market for close to three weeks and we’ve had about 40 or 50 interested parties come through. Some of them are interested in converting into a home, while some are considering converting it for business use, such as a gallery or a restaurant,” he said.
The stunning bluestone building has been listed with a price guide of $425,000 to $465,000.
“The building is historically quite significant as it’s a very early example of a substantial bluestone building and we know that there are a lot of people who are interested in that bluestone architecture, whether it be a home or a church,” he says.
Mr MacDonald says there are also some people who are very drawn to the idea of converting churches.
“There’s definitely a whole group of people who have a particular interest in churches and converting those into a home and we have seen quite a few of those people at our inspections,” he said.
Mr Allen says there is no question there is something serene about the former church and Chakola community hall he has converted into an airy family home in the Snowy Mountains in NSW.
“It’s so peaceful. And, there’s just so much history that comes with a place like this. Most people from this area would have attended a 21st or a wedding or a band recital or something here over the last 70 or 80 years. It’s pretty special,” he says.
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