Way back in 2016, Matt and Kristen Gray of Ohio heard a rumor that a local church was looking to relocate.
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The couple routinely flip houses for profit, but they were also in the market for a new family home to house their five school-age children. The church shot down their first offer, but the family never stopped thinking about transforming the 1903 brick church into a family home as unique as they are.
“We heard through the rumor mill that the church had land south of town and was looking to build a new facility,”said Matt. “My wonderfully creative, yet slightly too creative wife, Kristen, came up with this idea that was crazy at the time, yet the idea grew legs.”
The couple continued to flip houses, but Kristen says not a day went by that they didn’t think of the church and dream of owning it. Finally, in 2020, church officials decided it was time to sell. The Grays purchased the church for $50,000 and immediately got to work making it their own.
The church got a top-to-bottom renovation. They managed to preserve and repurpose a few items like pews, a large wooden cross, attendance board, and even the baptismal font, which now serves as their kitchen sink! They also updated the electrical and plumbing, put on a metal roof, and painted the brick exterior black.
The whole family got involved in the renovation. The kids even got to design their own rooms!
Matt says the church officials and local residents were happy to see the building transformed, and the way it all worked out really felt like fate.
“I think they really appreciated the idea and the fact that the building would now house a new purpose and would not be torn down to create a parking lot as previously proposed,”said Matt. “In a way that only God himself could orchestrate, the timing and financial positioning of all of the above happened in a fully coordinated and perfectly timed way.â€
The house now has four bedrooms, including a large master suite with a soaker tub. All together there are three full bathrooms and three powder rooms, plus a massive kitchen, a homeschooling classroom, a home gym, and a game room that has a slide from one level to the next!
So far, the family’s favorite space is the kitchen. They love cooking up big family meals and sitting in the old pews arranged around the dining room table.
“We’ve never had a house where all seven of us can cook in the kitchen together but here we can and we love that so much,”said Kristen.
The family has fully settled in to their new home and are loving every square inch of it! Some things really are worth the wait.
Watch the video below to check out more of this incredible reclaimed building, and don’t forget to share.
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