Here’s a little something different for your Friday, and it’s kind of my dream come true. No, not the dream of Gwen Stefani and I being best friends and having a lip sync battle with Jimmy Fallon, my other dream best friend/next door neighbor. This is my dream of renovating a public building into a private home. (Preferably in between Gwen and Jimmy).
My dream started from a show called Generation Renovation, where people would turn things like old post offices and auto showrooms into beautiful homes. My favorite episode was when a couple renovated an abandoned junior high school. As they were giving the tour, the man swung open a set of double doors at the end of a hallway, and bam: a full-size gymnasium! Why is that show not on anymore? That show was the best.
So this makeover is right up my alley. It’s an old church turned ballet conservatory turned private residence in New Orleans. Now, I can’t say that I’m on board with all the changes and ‘updates’ that were made here. Some of them make me cringe, truly. But it’s still SO fascinating! And I’d much rather see a historic space being used and loved, rather than untouched and left to rot.
This is the exterior, no before and after shot here. It looks pretty much untouched, other than that apparatus on the roof.
Boarded up windows and peeling paint become a perfectly presentable bedroom.
Half walls were added to carve out some living spaces, like the wall to the right in this kitchen.
Look at those soaring ceilings! And the windows, drool! And there still looks like plenty of space to host a ballet performance.
Last I checked it was for sale, if you want to cough up two and half million for it. There is a blog called 1527 Harmony, although it hasn’t been updated, but you can see much more from realtor photos here and here.
What do you think??
24 Comments
Jennifer
January 30, 2015 at 7:12 AMI LOVE it – other than maybe the red bedroom. It looks like its 2.5 million though – I thought half a mill seemed like a steal.
leslie
January 30, 2015 at 7:49 AMAlways fun to see renos like this but all I can think is – sooo expensive to heat and not very cozy with those crazy high ceilings. I do like the feel of the great room, color wise and the open stairs are neat. Not a house for me tho.
Tracy
January 30, 2015 at 8:10 AMWow – The exterior is delicious!
Cardigan-Clad Culinary
January 30, 2015 at 8:29 AM[…] am a sucker for a good before and after, and Lindsey shares diverse posts and lots of great ideas. Today’s post is a complete house renovation: a church turned into a home in New […]
The Friday Five | Cardigan-Clad Culinary
January 30, 2015 at 8:31 AM[…] am a sucker for a good before and after, and Lindsey shares diverse posts and lots of great ideas. Today’s post is a complete house renovation: a church turned into a home in New […]
Havok
January 30, 2015 at 10:03 AMOkay that is beautiful! A lot of work went into fixing it up, but it turned out so great! Rather disappointing, though, that it got into such a sad state, but just goes to show what (a lot of!) elbow grease can really do!
Matt Allen
January 30, 2015 at 10:39 AMLets move to New Orleans!I just have to come up with a few million first 🙂
Colyn
January 30, 2015 at 11:00 AMLovely! So glad someone renovated an old but beautiful building. Being New Orleans, though, they love their history. Not much need to heat it, either — high ceilings and large windows are an asset (might add some ceiling fans). I also love to watch Homes Under The Hammer out of England; they show old church-to-home renovations every once in a while. I love to see the Befores and Afters!
Colyn
January 30, 2015 at 11:02 AMOh, I see the fans in the living room now. Great redo.
Carol-Anne
January 30, 2015 at 4:05 PMGosh, I live in Toronto, where 2.5 million would get you an average bungalow in a middle class neighbourhood, so this looks fab to me!
Jen Y
January 30, 2015 at 4:18 PMI grew up in a renovated one room school house though there wasn’t anything very dramatic about it.
Heather
January 30, 2015 at 6:43 PMThen you’d LOVE Restoration Home on You tube and Under The hammer!! Check them out!!
LeeAnn
January 30, 2015 at 6:51 PMThis is exactly the way of buildings should be used, instead of being demolished. To me, this is the ultimate in recycling!
TucsonPatty
January 30, 2015 at 11:37 PMWow! How gorgeous and stunning! My only question is – where is the baby grand? Why not?
Shea
January 31, 2015 at 9:46 AMThose before photos look straight outta the show “Ghost Hunters”. I was expecting that lone coffee table to slide across the room by itself!
Claire
January 31, 2015 at 2:30 PMThere is a show on HGTV called “You Live in What?” that often features homes converted from churches, jails, warehouses, schools, fire stations, etc. It sounds similar to the show you described. But each episode features like 5 different homes so you don’t get an in depth look at the construction process. There is another show on HGTV called Extreme Homes that you might enjoy too.
Amy U
January 31, 2015 at 5:33 PMTake everything out of the living room except for a coupla couches and tell the kids they can roller blade. That’s what I would do.
Melinda
February 1, 2015 at 1:31 PMWOW!! Phenomenal job!
Eleanor
February 2, 2015 at 3:06 PMI think they did a fantastic job! I grew up in New Orleans and remember going there when it was the Ballet Hysell. I live that they kept as much of the original as possible in the renovations — excellent job.
Cathie
February 2, 2015 at 5:40 PMThat’s my dream, too! We once sat in our hotel room on vacation so we could watch a special on that. Fire and station, warehouse, some sort of water mill turbine thingy, church…
My childhood dream was to convert the stake center to a house. Huge tub, lots of bedrooms…
Amanda
February 2, 2015 at 10:54 PMThis is a great post. I’d love to see more posts like this. Thanks!
Eleanor
May 8, 2015 at 4:14 PMRumor has it Beyonce and Jay-Z have purchased the house. http://www.fox8live.com/story/29018390/report-beyonce-and-jay-z-moving-to-new-orleans
Lindsey @ Better After
May 9, 2015 at 10:59 AMWhat! That’s crazy! I would love to see what they do with it!
Happy Hiller
January 23, 2020 at 8:44 AMWow! What a transformation! I am impressed!
Great job!