A funeral parlor is a place few people enjoy visiting—much less living in permanently—but a new reality series proves that this macabre setting can make for a comfortable dwelling for the right family.

In “We Bought a Funeral Home,” Arryn and Heather Blumberg have bought a former funeral parlor in the small town of Dresden, Ontario, for $570,000. They spent an additional $400,000 to renovate it into their dream residence. Suffice it to say, it was a big undertaking. The 12,000-square-foot space had 38 rooms, including an embalming room.

And it was also haunted, of course, which keeps the Blumbergs and their kids (Rafferty and Noa) on their toes.

Curious to hear more about what inspired this strange living choice and the horrors they encountered within, we spoke to the Blumbergs about how they came to embrace their Addams family–style residence in all its spooky glory.

What possessed you to purchase a funeral home?

Heather: We’ve always been this way. Black is our favorite color, and we’ve always loved horror. When Arryn found [the listing], he showed me a picture. The architecture is called Second Empire, and it’s beautiful, bordering on Gothic.

It’s got a widow’s walk, and it looks like the Addams family house. It was the middle of the [COVID-19] pandemic; we were bored. We walked in and were here for a couple of minutes, and we were like, “Damn, we’re buying a house.” We just fell in love. We went from finding the house online to putting in an offer about five days later.

Arryn: The kids thought we were joking. We tend not to think stuff like this through. We figured, “Why not?” We’d figure it out as we went along.

Which parts of the house that scream ‘funeral home’ have you embraced?

Arryn: We have a casket lift that goes to different floors, and that’s always fun to take people up and down on. We’re not trying to hide that it was a funeral home, but it’s not a theme park. It’s our house.

Heather: We’ve definitely leaned in heavily in the basement areas. Initially, the embalming room was a very little room, and we thought we’d use it as laundry, maybe a shower room because it’s already liquid-proof. Eventually, we decided to do a speakeasy outside, and therefore, we would turn it into a cigar lounge, which is a lot of fun.

We’ve kept the original embalming walls—we’ve got all the hooks in the ceiling that were used for winching—and we found a beautiful antique poster of the arteries and veins in the body, and so that became my key design piece.

I designed cabinetry that would look like something you would find in an operating theater. The worktop I designed to look like a gurney. The kids and I made some artwork out of old Victorian embalming tools. It’s weird but comfortable. We had fun!

Can you flesh out your full vision for the renovation?

Heather: We call it glam Goth. It’s also kind of British eclectic. I love deep, dark jewel colors. I love playing with blacks, anything highly saturated. I love monotone. I love playing with textures and mixing antiques with new vintage finds. Anything that was original to when the house was built in [the] 1880s, we’ve kept. We modeled baseboards and trim on the original to bring in more of that Victorian flavor.

Arryn: I’ve always loved those old English manor houses that are filled with curios from travels [and] interesting artifacts, so we’ve tried to capture some of that. Each room has a feel to it.

Has the building’s history scared off potential contractors?

Heather: Funnily enough, you give some of them the address, they get here, they do a walk-through, and then we never hear from them again.

Arryn: We’ve had probably half a dozen of those. Thankfully the main contractor, Dave [Depencier]—who’s been amazing, as creeped out as he and some of his crew have been—kept turning up and [did] a great job.

How did you pick which renovations to prioritize within your budget?

Heather: We needed a kitchen, bedrooms, [and] bathrooms, and unfortunately, they’re big-ticket items. When you’re moving electrics and plumbing and HVAC, and all of those things that had to be done, that we agreed upon. And from there, a couple of fun rooms to do along the way to make us feel good. Could I have done without a casket bar that goes from room to room? Yes. However, we moved into a funeral home, and I really wanted one.

Anything creepy happen since you’ve been in the house? Have you seen or heard any ghosts?

Heather: It started with a few shadows on walls where there weren’t any people. The dogs hate the main staircase in the house; they growl and bark at it. Our daughter has the top floor of the house, and her doors open and close at night. She’s had times when it seemed someone was sitting on her bed. And it’s progressed to, we have a lady in the house that randomly will shout “hello” at you.

Arryn: I’ve heard someone shout “Hello,” and I’ll shout back, thinking [Heather is] in the house. I’ll then text saying, “What did you want?” And [she’s] like, “What do you mean? I’m out of the house.” I’m not a believer in ghosts or anything like that, but this place is definitely haunted.

Any advice for peacefully sharing space with possible spirits?

Heather: Noa has morning rituals, night rituals. Friends have gifted us smudging kits, but so far we haven’t felt the need to use them.

Arryn: We try not [to] overfocus on it. Sometimes old houses can be creepy; whether it’s real or imagined is besides the point. It’s part of the building; it’s part of the character of the home. We don’t find it malicious or threatening, so we continue as normal.

Funeral homes are generally places where you come to celebrate something. It’s sad, but it’s still generally a celebration, and I think that’s why maybe we’re a little luckier. I would probably have a different opinion if this was a jail or an asylum.

Heather: Both of which I want to do next after we finish this house!

Does the funeral home feel like your home now?

Heather: It does. We filmed for such a long time, and we’ve only recently had the house to ourselves without a construction or film crew. Every time I drive up and look at it, I’m still, “This is ours? Really?” It’s bizarre, but it’s wonderful.

The post Exclusive: The Stars of ‘We Bought a Funeral Home’ Reveal the Eerie Reality of Renovating a House Built for the Dead appeared first on Real Estate News & Insights | realtor.com®.