From 1885 until the early 2000s, a Lutheran church in rural Home, KS, was the backdrop for worship services, weddings, and other gatherings.

Then it closed and found new life as a business.

And in 2020, the former church became a home.

“I thought I was going to be staying here forever; that was my plan,” says listing agent and owner Jessica Leis, with Midwest Land and Home. “I love living here.”

But personal circumstances prompted her to place the beautifully unusual space back on the market. The 1,812-square-foot home is listed for $265,000.

‘My next calling’

“From the outside, it looks like a church; but inside, it feels like home,” Leis says. “For me, it’s a sense of pride and joy, because I know it is something that many people cherished and used as their place to worship and congregate and have memories here. I’ve given it continued life and purpose, rather than it just being abandoned.”

A previous owner bought the church at auction in 2012, then replaced the mechanicals and repaired the structure. It was used as a business for a few years.

Leis bought the place after the business closed, and she decided to convert it into a home.

“I’m one of those people who doesn’t like to be the same, and I don’t mind if I stand out,” Leis says. “I’m different. I just kept telling my family that I felt it was my next calling in life—that I needed to give that building a new purpose, because I could not stand to see it sit empty or go to waste.”

The result is a three-bedroom, 1.5-bath building she calls a “chhouse” (or church-house), with lots of upgrades and charm.

“To me, the vision was super simple,” says Leis, who installed a kitchen in the pulpit area. “I just needed the cabinets and sink and stuff put in.”

She also needed plumbing to make a laundry room. And she updated a bathroom with vanities and a shower. The main bedroom is located in a 1969-era addition to the church.

The home also has a basement—an important feature in tornado-prone Kansas.

Leis recently spent about $55,000 on a new detached garage.

“I had no intentions of selling, so I spared no expense, because I was building it for me and what I wanted,” she says.

There is still a bell in the structure’s belltower, but it is silent.

“When the previous owner gutted [the church], there were some structural integrity questions because of rot and things that needed to be maintained or updated,” Leis explains. “So she had the bell lifted with a crane, up to where it is now, so you can see it when you drive by. When they pulled it up, they had to make it stationary on iron beams.”

Leis grew up in the area and says the church was an important part of the unincorporated town of about 100 people. She says she is sad to be selling it but is optimistic the distinctive home will find owners who love it the way she does.

“All the ceilings in the main area are original to 1885 and are beautiful and full of character,” Leis says. “There’s nothing you can buy today that is like that. I pray that whomever gets to call this place theirs next, is going to appreciate the uniqueness of what it is.”

The post There’s No Place Like Home: Former Kansas Church Is Now a Heavenly House appeared first on Real Estate News & Insights | realtor.com®.