Sacred spaces: The Australians breathing new life into old churches

Ever dreamt of buying an old church and converting it into a residence worth raising the roof about?

These three owners have lived to tell the tale, with more than a few surprises and budget blowouts along the way. 

A dream passion project

When Matt Collins inspected a historic bluestone church with 27 stained-glass windows in Tasmania, he found himself in real estate heaven.

“I really, really love Tasmania and the small towns there,” says the US-born management consultant, who spotted the church on a popular Facebook page.

“There’s a real community vibe,” he says of Campbell Town, where the church is located. 

“It’s right in the middle of the state, surrounded by all this beautiful farmland, and then you can see the hills and mountains in the distance. It’s just very idyllic and bucolic.”

After paying $1 million to fulfil his decade-long dream of owning a church, Collins got the keys in December 2023, renamed it Haven on High and set about preparing for short-stay guests.

The 1879 church, having been used as a wool museum, home, cafe and co-working space at various times, was in pretty good nick, he says, although some work was urgently needed on those beautiful old windows.

“The glass itself is getting restored as well, but that means removing each window, taking it offsite to the one Tasmanian expert who’s able to do it, and spending about four months with each window being completely dismantled, every piece restored and reconstructed,” Collins says.

His optimistic renovation budget of $150,000 “has come and gone”.

Melbourne-based Collins and his partner regularly stay in the church between guests or during further restoration works. 

“You walk in and you just feel the history hit you in the face,” he says. “You can’t walk in and not experience something, because you’re surrounded by all this stone and glass and light and colour and just a huge amount of space.”

The little church next to Ned Kelly’s resting place

In the tiny Victorian town of Greta, Karen Eastwood and her partner Peter Umbers are preserving a slice of history next to a notable landmark – the cemetery where bushranger Ned Kelly’s remains lie.

But the outlaw’s historic antics in nearby Glenrowan had nothing to do with the couple buying the church last December.

Rather, “jack-of-all-trades” Umbers had been keen to buy one, and they’d spotted the for-sale sign out the front while driving past. The fact it was surrounded mostly by farmland, with the cemetery on one side, was also appealing.

It’s the third church on the site, as the original 1800s church was eaten by termites, and the second was destroyed by fire.

“This church was built in 1953, so it’s not a hugely old church, but it’s got a little bit of character to it,” Eastwood says.

While it’s been “a good little project”, she says they were slightly naive about the permit process, which they expected to be easier because they weren’t making any structural changes.

“When we bought it, it had a planning permit to make it into a dwelling,” Eastwood says. “And so we thought that we were doing the right thing.”

They’ve almost finished bringing the neglected church back to life, but are now playing the waiting game to obtain a certificate of occupancy. 

“We’re hopeful it’ll all work out,” says Eastwood, who’s looking forward to calling the high-ceilinged church home.

A divine purchase with more than a few delays

After Kim Tozer and her partner, Gary Burton, bought a church in the Victorian border town of Barnawartha, they faced more than a few hiccups – including a global pandemic.

The property settled in January 2020, and amid COVID-19 restrictions and delays, their one-year timeline to restore the Catholic church stretched out to more than three years of hard slog. 

When they placed their winning bid for the church, it was 123 years old, and in almost-original state. “Like a giant hall covered in red plush carpet,” Tozer says.

They painstakingly pulled up the carpet and countless staples. “But we kept one long roll so that we can roll out the red carpet when we have people over.”

Tozer loves living in a place where so many celebrations of people’s lives – from christenings to marriages and funerals – have taken place.

Fittingly, it’s the first house that she and Burton – who sees the place as “non-stop work and a money pit”, Tozer quips – have bought together.

The pair dated in their early 20s, before bumping into each other years later and reuniting.

“Maybe there’s a divine plan in there somewhere, and that’s why we’ve ended up here?” laughs Tozer.