Transforming a Crumbling Chapel into a Stunning Family Home | Building Historic Homes | Abode

Follow this family on the incredible journey of turning an abandoned chapel into a contemporary family residence. The church, neglected for over two decades, needs a full home renovation to restore it’s interior into a beautiful home. From intricate craftsmanship to innovative design, witness the transformation of this historic structure into a modern living space.

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How do you transform an abandoned Chapel into a sophisticated house or turn dilapidated old barns into stylish family homes from industrial wonders to ancient windmills this series follows Brave homeowners the original wall has come away from the chapel as they take on the seemingly impossible challenges that isn’t going to happen

Until next year never mind 3 weeks time it’s absolutely barreling down of transforming historic structures never built to be lived in we explore the ancient Master crafts and ingenious modern design it takes to build an impossible house it’s another bit of History saved today a couple takes a massive leap of

Faith as they attempt the Monumental challenge of transforming this colossal crumbling Church initially when we took it on it was just falling apart which has been neglected and empty for over 20 years if you just said to me 12 months ago you’ll live in a caravan in a

Graveyard it be like no no way that’s we went up there we discovered that that column was really just sat on soil which to us was a bit scary they we have ambitious plans if it pushes down onto these sliding doors at all the sliding doors won’t slide to rebuild and reconfigure this

Vast religious Relic oops I’m in into a magnificent one-of-a-kind family home that is just Perfect in denl West Yorkshire electrician sha and scrapyard owner Debs have recently got married and they’ve been looking for a large home where they can entertain their extended family including five children and five grandchildren we decided we need a family home that was going to be ours together a new start we

Did think about buying a plot of land to build his own house we just didn’t want to be the same as everybody else we just wanted something unique didn’t we we did they abandoned the idea of building a brand new home from scratch when they found this extraordinary historic

Building on the market we heard the church was up for sale and when we took a look at it well Debs cried we just fell in love with the architecture of the building and once you come inside and see the inside as well we didn’t think of anything else other than this

Is the future the church went up for auction in September 26 17 and Debs and sha snapped it up for a mere £85,000 it was obviously for our forever home to build something a little bit different but also to return the building back to its former glory because it was been

Empty for 20 years and in such a sad state that it was such a shame to see such a beautiful building just literally falling apart St Paul’s denome was constructed in 1846 six and is grade 2 listed the church is built from local gritstone and is considered a Gothic Masterpiece with gargoyles

Butresses lanet windows and a steeple that saws over 36 M tall the internal footprint is 450 square m and in its day could hold a Congregation of 700 people the church closed in 1997 when part of the ceiling collapsed luckily no one was hurt its final service was held

Outside in the grounds 2 years later 3,000 people have been laid to rest in the graveyard which will remain open to the public so they can pay their Respects some might say St Paul’s resembles a mini cathedral the outer walls and inner pillars were built on footings and the internal Stone floor laid directly onto the ground to house a seven Bay Nave for the congregation with Isles either side through the Arches a Bays with

Extra seating for big events at the front of the church is the chancel which houses The Altar and seating for the choir there’s a gallery at the back above the entrance which is known as the narx behind that is the imposing West Tower that they hope to reconfigure into

Additional accommodation at a later Date sha and Debs paid £85,000 for this incredible Church it might not sound a lot but it’s literally falling apart so it could be a money pit Debs and sha are certainly brave but they’ve got big plans to create a contemporary house within the 450 square meter footprint of this historical

Masterpiece and they intend to salvage any original features and reuse them elsewhere in the build well initially when when we purchased the building it was with planning permissions and plans but there were very basic plans so we approached an architect that actually designed previous Church buildings and

We had we had a set of ideas didn’t we that we wanted but uh The Architects have been absolutely fantastic in encompassing everything we wanted as well as some really groundbreaking design and retaining all the architecture of the church without interfering with any of the nice windows or

Archers the outside will be repaired but not modified they’re planning to bring the building into the 21st century and make it eco-friendly by adding solar panels over the chancel they will remove part of the crumbling roof to create a private Courtyard and a main entrance to the building on the south

Side inside they have ambitious plans there will be an entrance Lobby and off to the left a lounge that leads onto a study behind the lobby there will be storage and a downstairs toilet then to the right the kitchen that will lead onto a dining room and beyond that there will be another

Lounge a floor will appear to float above the kitchen on the new first floor they plan to build two bedrooms and a bathroom on the top floor there will be a luxurious Master Suite complete with walk-in wardrobe and bathroom St Paul’s is a magnificent building and sha and Debs are clear

Determined to transform it into their dream home they have set aside a maximum budget of 400,000 but the cost of converting such a cavernous structure into a home should not be underestimated and while £400,000 might sound a really healthy budget it could easily get eaten up if they find any structural issues at

All Sha’s Taken 2 years off work to rebuild this historic Relic to save money he and Debs are living in a caravan in the graveyard before they can even begin to transform the church into a home they must make the structure safe and that means starting at the top with the main

Roof we’ve been on the roof working on the roof now for about four months we did the the main roof first cuz that was the one that was most precarious this is the north Isle roof and is by far the worst roof as in structural damage so

We’ve had to remove all the Timber from this roof all the trusses all the pearlings and rafters replace all those uh and now we’re just currently reting the roof with as much of the original slate as we can use the roof damage was so bad it triggered part of the ceiling inside to

Collapse and worse still the way we of the collapsing roof caused the outer walls to spread the sheer weight of the slate and the ceiling pulling down the roof actually caused it to push the walls out by about 40 mm any additional weight on the roof could have been

Catastrophic if we’ had a fall of snow it would have pushed these walls out and it would have collapsed it would have been no church left they used Timber to brace either side of the crack to stop the walls from spaying further we had to make sure that

These walls were tied in they also tie together around 2,000 steel poles to form a giant scaffold to create additional support we’ve managed to get steel work in to support the original roof trusses the legs of the roof trusses some of them had gone away with

The rot so we managed to cut that out and replace them where necessary just making this huge structure safe is a massive Challenge and the mon mental task of transforming it into a home has yet to Begin it’s 9 months since work on the rebuild began the main roof of the church and ceiling is now structurally sound so they remov the scaffolding from the inside they’ve also installed solar panels for sustainable power it’s a hybrid system so we have a battery system during the day hopefully these

These will run the building no problem any excess generated electricity is stored in the batteries and then obviously when the sun’s gone in we’re not generating we can use that battery power to run the rest of the building I think that’s an interesting thing this one piece will make 52 layers

Watch on mobile devices or the big screen all for free no subscription required bit by bit sha is making progress just over 4 miles away in Halifax Debs is also hard at work at her scrap metal recycling plant I obviously working here earning the the coin as

They say I’m earning the money which to carry on forward with the renovation Debs and her team process 80,000 tons of waste metal every year at this vast 20,000 ft which also conveniently has plenty of storage because we’re living in a caravan at the moment the stuff for the

House seems to be everywhere for the church so up here we’ve got our bed for the master bedroom and our on Suite upstairs is our PS from the church which will be hopefully made into our K dining table this container here is full of our furniture from when we sold our over

Property to be able to manage and pay for the church I can’t wait to to that cuz I actually can’t remember remember what’s in It at St Paul’s the team gears up to undertake structural repairs on the church’s foundations back in 1846 only the outer walls and internal columns were built on foundations so sha must lay footings to support all new internal walls and floors first sha must remove a number of

Huge stones from the South Wall to create a big enough Gap to squeeze a digger through once inside workers must dig 2 m trenches for the foundations then they must pour 30 cubic M of concrete into the trenches once set they’ll build 3 m tall walls to house

The ground floor and prop up the upper floors It takes a week to remove 20 tons of soil from the church this tide Mark here is the actual original floor level so you can see how much we’ve had to take out with the Digger um and it also exposed the bottoms of the columns we have a huge

Stone then another huge Stone and that it’s supporting that column and that’s supporting part of the church the excavation also Unearthed something rather worrying under one of the church’s supporting columns you probably notice that some of these actually stood on Stones small stones stuck together with lime morar

But as we went up there we discovered that that column is really just sat on soil which to us was a bit scary soil is not a stable Foundation it doesn’t Bond and set like lime mortar and stones the weak footing could give way at any moment and cause the building

To collapse like a house of cards leaving sha and Deb’s dreams in tatters giving themselves two years to complete this ambitious project sha and Debs are living in a caravan on site until they can move in if you just head to a 12 months ago you’ll live in a

Caravan in a graveyard and be like no no way um know just face just B it’s just easier cuz we’re on site you know we’re not going to be here forever so as soon as it’s habitable we’ll be we’ll be in the church but there’s a lot more to do

Before they can even think about moving in especially as they’ve Unearthed the problem with the foundations under one of the columns which sha needs to fix before the build can continue it’s a voyage of Discovery for us nobody knew what was underneath here the last people

To see what was under here were the people actually dug the origin footings for the church that was nearly 180 years ago to solve this problem sha has dug a trench around the pillar for even more concrete we put about 2 cubic M of concrete just poured it into stabilize

All of this area and then we continue to to work digging out the rest of the church laying the New Foundations and walls takes great precision and skill the new floor joy will sit on top of these walls and the floor needs to run level throughout 685 just seven that’s all right good

We’ve got to run straight across there haven’t we to that one some of the walls will rise up above the joist to create the new rooms what work we do obviously it’s evolving and everything’s changing because it started to show that it’s becoming a a a home and not just a big

Open ch Church reconfiguring vast historic structures like this church into something homely is a huge Challenge on many fronts but it does provide an opportunity to create a oneof aind living space in Kent this equally cavernous 1930s water purification plant was transformed into a glamorous home

Four years ago by Jeff low and his wife Monica it’s obviously an art deco style building but equally it has a kind of look of a contemporary sort of architect design Californian building everybody in the area knows it and it’s a bit of a sort of landmark it might look sleek and minimal

Outside but inside they’ve created a living space crammed with extraordinary features and detail this part of the house was the first part that we did when we bought it it was very very cold very Bleak water coming there rain water coming in through the roof this is the original cust iron

Staircase that would have been part of the original building going right up the top I think the staircase is important because it’s so much part of the original building and it just feels so right where it is this room we use as a living room sometimes dining room it’s got this

Enormous shape in the middle of the room which could be considered to be quite difficult to work with but actually we quite like it because it means that the room can be configured in different sorts of areas yeah it’s very um creative and it has a nice flow when

You’re walking around being able to see through from all of these windows it’s got this incredible sense of light it’s a really cozy room I think the outside of the building feels a little bit like a castle it has this sort of impregnable presence and uh I think people are very happy that

Something has happened because it was deric for so Long at St Paul’s it’s taken sha and the team two months to lay the ground floor Timber joists build the walls to support the first floor and install the support beams for the top floor and they’re now 11 months into their 2-year build we’re getting to the point where

All these walls going up we’re outlining each room we get to now see the layout which um Debs will be over the moon about I’m sure the plan is to build two more floors above the kitchen whilst leaving the dining area open to the vast high

Ceiling of the church to do this they need Precision Engineering to build what looks like a floating floor can we run straight across there to bring that in narrower the key support will be a loadbearing 3 m steel post they’ll need to secure this to the ground floor with

Steel bolts that are set with resin one end of each of the two steel beams will sit on top of the post the other ends will rest on the new internal walls built to house the kitchen they will lay new joist between the beams to form the

Floor above then build walls along the beams to create the bedrooms if the beam fails the floors will collapse so it’s vital that they get this crucial part of the build right you ready the supporting steel column has been made offsite to exact measurements sha works with engineer Gordon Whitaker

And Builder Matt flesher to install the column um back to you a bit more actually that’s snug to sides right well that’s dead Plum the important thing is to get this in the right place cuz everything is obviously attached to this so it has to be absolutely bang level in the right place

In relation to the rest of the build they use steel bolts and resin to Anchor the column to the concrete base wait for that to cure that is spot on perfect once the timber floor joists arrive they can start building the upper two floors but they are a year into

Their 2-year schedule and and Subs is still a long way off from becoming a Home transforming this gothic church into a Sumptuous three-bedroom family home is a massive challenge the footprint inside is a whopping 450 square m it’s so vast they’ve decided to phase the work and complete some of it at a later date sha and debs’s calm approach to this build is impressive it’s easy to

Become overwhelmed by a project of this scale Sha’s next challenge is to remove the roof of the South aisle to create a private open courtyard once this is removed it’s not being replaced but that’s that’s the final stage of the roof work which is just to remove that and then leave it

Off it’s now winter pummeling rain snow and freezing temperatures make the already challenging outdoor construction work even tougher it’s a dirty and Relentless battle to remove the roof over the South aisle by removing the roof Debs and sha will create an impressive Venetian style open courtyard that will give them the

Private outdoor space this home deserves they’re also removing part of the wall on the south side to create a new main entrance it’s now 18 months into the build with the roof of the South aisle removed and the walls opened up this grand old church is ready for some 21st

Century design with sleek thermally Innovative Windows there are 57 in total and some are huge they cost nearly £95,000 and they’re being built offsite at this specialist Workshop by Andrew stedman’s team it is quite a big job with it being such an old building we’ve got to fit

All the windows to measure them all the right sizes and some of the walls AR quite straight things can go wrong Andrew’s team uses specialist software to program the machines which cut the glass and framework once it’s been programmed upstairs it gets sent down to the saw and then uh hopefully it should

Cut it all off to the right size it’s quite a fancy machine and it does all slots and saves a lot of time for us on the shop floor before we used to do these by hand but now the new Machinery makes it so much easier they slot the sections of frame

Together ready for the glass we put all the joint the sealants on and everything and then we’ll make it into a frame which will get sent up to denome and then we’ll fit the windows up there and then put the glass in them at St Paul’s snow and rain Bear

Down on Sha and Debs the new windows couldn’t arrive at a better time right I’ll leave you to it cheers no problem usually we done everything ourselves here but this is a specialist job it’s more cost effective to let these guys do it and for a change sit

Back and watch somebody else do it spin it right round come top in first all right that’s it oh it’s going to be fun this the windows are double glazed and designed to help with thermal efficiency 1 two three keeping the heating costs of this huge home as low as

Possible these PS of glass I’m been told about 230 kg each so that’s a big lift is that the steel works all in place that should take that weight fingers crossed it’s the deflection more than anything the deflection on the middle of the steel if it if it pushes down onto these these

Sliding doors at all the sliding doors won’t slide there very little tolerance Christmas this year will be here we will be having Christmas dinner there fingers crossed now it takes two full days and precise positioning to fit the windows that’s it that’s it that as far

As you could go got it in it’s looking good feeling very optimistic now like it love it yeah well it yeah going to miss that draft just get when the snow when the snow was blowing through going to clean them well we got a long pole for that it’s looking

Good it’s more impressive than I thought it was going to be Bring it in Moment of Truth now what do you want a Hammer doesn’t seem to go together does it a hammer and glass stop going in his fits relief tight died like a ice that now is a big relief that’s a big part of the build there’s 50 57 Windows all different shapes and sizes to fit they’ve done very very

Well that could have gone so wrong um it’s the biggest piece of glass we have in the building and it’s days like this when you think it’s really all worth all these Blood Sweat and Tears it’s it’s uh yeah it’s a a lovely day today sun

Shining a bit nippy but it be a bit warm and now we got windows in I think I’ll celebrate tonight now sha and Debs are now 22 months into their 2-year build and the church is finally starting to resemble a home they’re Paving the courtyard and laying slabs around the

Entrance the guys have done an absolutely Sterling job of using all the stone that was originally part of the floor of the church so it’s great as we use these Stones we find little markings we find little holes and it’s great to look back on the history of the church and know

That every time we come in this Courtyard part of the original church is here outside in the Courtyard we’re trying to save as much of the flag as we can these are the real deal the probably one of the most expensive types of Paving you can you can get today and they are very sort after obviously yorkstone Sandstone if you go to a stone yard you can be 100

Pound a meter plus v just at a rough guess well you’d be 10 to 15 grand worth of stone the flags are deer than labor which is unusual we’re proud to to be part of laying them and bringing them back to life that’s how it’s done that jobs are good and another one

Down the outside is almost complete Debs has a rare day off work to help sha fit the railings to the balcony inside we’re coming to the part of the build now where we’re sort of getting to the end of it the finishing touches we’re really looking forward to this

Part all the massive jobs have been done these jobs are hopefully more rewarding it’s quite exciting cuz I’m working with Debs doing a bit of Hands-On work I’m the bus lady as my as they call me at work they do don’t they don’t they would you hold that pleas for me darling

Wife yes Sir s now back to you we more or less mimicked the railings outside by doing this ballustrade looking across there it it almost matches the gallery we’re very happy aren’t we with it y very happy you okay are they yeah oops I’m in you in y they’ve battled brittle brick work and

Brutal weather across the whole 2 years to transform this fragile building now they’re nearing the end game when they can leave their Caravan behind to finally move in that is just perfect the Relentless yet rewarding task of saving this Gothic Masterpiece has finally come to an end it’s hard to

Imagine this historic church was about to collapse into the ground when sha and Debs took it on they’ve not only only saved the structure but built a brand new home inside and the end result is Tremendous the whole roof has been repaired all the lead work has been redone and all the windows have been replaced not just along the main body of the church but right up into the top of the tower now that’s attention to detail because you could have quite easily left

Those rooms it just makes you realize the Epic scale of this Undertaking the open courtyard gives this Grand building the private outside space it truly deserves and also a sneak peek of what’s to come inside the design idea of keeping one of the aisles completely open and then slotting the house inside really works you get the sense of the modern

House inside the main body of the church but it also reveals the skeleton of the old building sha has relayed beautiful yorkstone Paving from inside the church planted a small garden and made a water feature this picks up on the idea of the garden as a little bit of paradise on

Earth and it’s just as impressive as soon as you walk in the ground floor is so vast they have two sitting rooms one is to the west of the lobby it’s so big Sha’s motorbikes look like an art installation it is a temporary bik garage unfortunately but I think they

Look nice they’re very nice we’ve restored the gallery back to its former glory it’s just the chilled out area isn’t it yeah and it’s great to draw the doors back we’ve got the courtyard there with the running Water the living space they use the most is on the other side of the entrance starting in the kitchen so this is our wonderful kitchen I’ll let Deb tell you about her wonderful space it’s just a really really nice space and you know size of it I didn’t we could every have kitchen

This big we tried to make the biggest kitchen we could so that everybody could be in here uh and nobody was left Out they’ve carefully selected modern fittings that complement the grand original features which date back to 1846 and the result is truly breathtaking the fireplace being the focal point of the room and in uh in winter it’s lovely even look such a big area with the fire everybody seems to

Huddle around it’s lovely and cozy opening up the walls to create space for the enormous Windows lets the light flood in and they’re double glazed with aluminium frames a state-of-the-art designed for optimal thermal efficiency keeping the cold out and the warmth in transforming the once drafty Church into

A warm inviting home we had family here for Christmas we had Christmas dinner here and it and it was lovely and they’ve worked hard to reclaim and repurpose original features the PS here and the table actually is part of the floor we took up that was on the Old Stone Flags it must

Have been for for instance for The Quiet to stand on so they didn’t get cold feet the table was the only bit of Timber we could sa from the floor every other bit of Timber we took up that’s an ingenious way of salvaging some of the original

Materials beyond the dining area is the second lounge which is in the chancel so takes advantage of the high and ornate ceilings the whole brief to the architect was to keep the architecture of the church there so whatever we built inside the church church we could still

See wherever we were in the building it was a church and this is probably the best vantage point to see that if you’re standing here you look around its all church as you look through up to where the new part of the building is you can still see all of the Church this is going to be what we would call really a sun best dining room I think we had our anniversary our wedding anniversary meal here the day those big free Windows went in I got a tear me eye it was just it was

Just a a lovely day and it just you know the light what came through the windows it’s just lovely there are moments when we just say we’re so lucky to have this absolutely I know we we’ve made this Vision happen but when we look at it it

Was so privileged to have a building like this to work with we we don’t know of another building in this style that this has been done to we didn’t expect it to be as as nice as This the shell of the church was so big sha and Debs were able to build a Sleek modern three-story house within it on the first floor there are two bedrooms and a bathroom this is the first floor Landing with the first set of bedrooms on we’ve

Got what we call the boys bedroom and then we have the girls Bedroom sea wanted to leave this as it is which he obviously has got his own way I prefer the Finish look I still love the look of the stone the Finish uh all it needs is a bit of a cleanup and and ceiling and I think yeah it’s

It’s a reminder of how the building was the caner landing opens up to the amazing view of the main body of the church and the chancel then up another flight of stairs at the very top is their master bedroom Dev loves this room I do I do like this

Room the space just the windows we don’t have no curtains and it’s just it’s just lovely it’s lovely waking up in the morning 3 when the sun gets up yeah that’s the one but it’s just lovely we love it and no luxury master suite would be complete without a luxurious onsuite

Bathroom this was the very first room we come completed this gives a Little Bit of Heaven from being in a caravan we could Escape here wrapped in a towel up a ladder into here to have a lovely warm shower um but we love this room it’s a

Lovely peaceful bathroom uh we can you know lie in the bath look out the window across across the valley there it’s just a wonderful Place cuz we tried to get things at a good price and Deb being the person she is for bartering uh she managed to pick up this bathroom Suite A little bit early by about 8 months 9 months so yeah it was so it liked it and

Bought it that’s it it was um yeah saw that Work part of the brief was when we said we wanted to build a house in the church we wanted breathtaking views waking up in the morning just stepping out here it’s absolutely amazing it’s one of the breathtaking parts of the build we are so high up

Look down there go yeah it’s worth it and then Trot off down four flights of stairs to make a cup of coffee to come back up four flights of stairs everybody that comes up this far and has a look down thinks wow this is a view you just wouldn’t have anywhere Else sha and devs have created a truly one-of-a-kind home all the main building work is finished and they should be extremely proud of what they’ve achieved given they’ve restored a huge historic building and built a house within it in Just 2 years relieved well not so much relieved that

It’s finished um excited to enjoy it now as a house and a home for so long it was it was a building site we were in a caravan um but now we’re beginning to enjoy it starting off as just electrical engineer with a project like this was a

Bit daunting but I’ve learned so much uh we’ve only worked with a handful of people over the last two years but certainly I’m very confident now in just about any every aspect of uh building work we’ve had a hand in every every part of the build for us that’s a

Massive sense of achievement and reward and it’s incredible to think they’ve done it all on schedule and on budget think we’re budgeted 350 to 400 no more than 400 and we’ve been we’ve been good we’ve been really careful with what we’ve um bought we’re still under budget uh I

Know we’ve not quite finished yet but we’re happy with what we spent we bought enough flooring in W go to do the whole project even know we only had one floor to do but it meant we saved thousands of pounds in flooring and I think that’s

The where the whole ethos of the build was but we offset me not earning at the cost of Me project managing and doing the Hands-On work and it’s definitely being the better move than employing other people to do the work absolutely absolutely as it’s such a massive building with so many areas it’s

Unsurprising sha and Debs each have their own favorite space oh favorite spaces oh oh mine this kitchen it’s the Hub of the house isn’t it of our home it is it is very much and then I like I also like our bedroom which is it’s just lovely is it it’s just

Um a little Sanctuary out of way of everything I know what yours is I love the courtyard is amazing it it just takes you to a different place completely you walk yeah it’s a bit of Italy a bit of Venice a bit of it’s really Continental it’s relaxing the water feature with the

Water running it if you sit in the lounge and and open the doors we can you know enjoy the Tranquility of the water uh or if it’s a lovely day because it’s sou Facing we wanted to preserve this architecture because this is what we fell in love with so we we knew the decision was made not to make this massive house out of this big building but to make a reasonable size house inside the the church we tried to keep a

Bit of the church in every single room would we do this again yeah of course we would definitely yeah can we just choose somewhere with less Wind and Rain Chapel in Cyprus spot On