Past Lives: four storied conversions for sale
While many crave a home that’s forever been one, we also have a soft spot for those broader of background. From hallowed halls with ecclesiastical exteriors to educational enclaves, here are four listings with impressive former lives, ready to be reimagined once again
- Words
- Cat Sarsfield
The Old Church, Rishangles, Suffolk
Renovated in the 1980s, this hidden church turned four-bedroom home has kept all its ecclesiastical grandeur, from the vine-lined exterior walls to the deep mahogany staircase and heavy timber doors. History lingers here – standing in the entrance, it’s easy to imagine bell ringers climbing the wooden ladder – as does romance: take a moment to revel in the colours that glimmer thanks to the original stained-glass windows still in place.
Elsewhere, beams lend bedrooms a magical feel, while a protruding arched stone window brings a singular flavour to the softly shaded kitchen. And while there are plenty of secluded corners and cosy enclaves to curl up in, it’s worth praying for good weather, so you can enjoy the vast and verdant garden too.
The Gallery, Newquay, Cornwall
By the time its next residents move in, this Grade II-listed former church will have had not one but two past lives – the second as North Coast Asylum, the gallery set up by its current owners, and the home of its proprietors. Look around and you’ll note that the sun-soaked display spaces spanning the ground floor and mezzanine sit above a painstakingly crafted three-bedroom garden apartment.
Behind a handsome ecclesiastical façade, the interiors are remarkably bright, light and contemporary. That said, the building’s sensitive conversion has seen many period characteristics retained, from stained-glass windows to the Cornish granite dressings used in the original construction. Those wishing to add a new chapter to this home’s story will be pleased to know there’s scope: the commercial permissions of the exhibition space (there’s also a small shop and office at this level) give ample opportunity.
Village Road, Woolland, Dorset
For those who look back on school with a less than sentimental slant, this former school house afoot Dorset’s Blackmore Vale (with cart house and chapel to boot) offers a chance to start afresh.
If the view doesn’t sway you, the painterly wildflower meadow that comes alive in spring might. It certainly did Norman Battershill, the artist who kept a studio in the house for many years. He was likely drawn by the rest of the building’s pretty and bright spaces too – our favourite being the sunroom (ideal for dinner parties) or the living room, with its double-height ceilings and exposed A-frame timbers. Upstairs, the architectural splendour continues, notably in the bedroom in the eaves, with its panelled pitched ceiling and curved painted beams. The whole thing is too lovely not to share, in fact, which makes the detached cottage – part of the listing and perfect for visiting loved ones – all the more desirable.
Old Coach Road, Ford, Wiltshire
Stepping through grand arched front doors, the magnificence of this former church is hard to ignore – and that’s before you’ve caught a glimpse of the epic stained-glass windows that tower above the kitchen in the old chancel, sure to bring a certain otherworldliness to even the most mundane culinary task.
The building’s unusual barrel-vaulted ceilings are similarly spectacular, not least for their unexpectedness, while the curved timber staircases, rood screen – thought to have been supplied by William Morris’s company – and local honey-hued stone all contribute to the sense of specialness here. And while it’s ready to move into, those with a fondness for breathing new life into old buildings will no doubt be excited by the unconverted building that sits on an adjacent plot, waiting to be turned into something equally as beautiful.
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