Well hello there! I arrived home from Alt Summit this afternoon — just in time to see the kids get out of school. Holy moly I missed my family! I am going to settle in and unpack today, and I’ll be back to full posting tomorrow (hopefully with a fun recap of the conference). But I won’t leave you empty-handed. Coming home to the ever-lovely La Cressonnière brought this to mind:
I get extra invigorated when I see unconventional spaces turned into homes, like this Costa Mesa barn with open space galore by Corey Gash or that airy chapel by Nick Kenny. Rethinking such non-traditional structures and making them livable, incredibly artistic spaces is so far beyond genius. I’d LOVE to try my hand at this someday.
Would you have issues living in homes that once housed livestock or praying parishioners or even firefighters? Or would you pack your bags and move in tomorrow? I’d love to hear your thoughts!
{ 49 comments… read them below or add one }
I love the look of both spaces! As long as the livestock smell was gone, I’d be fine!
Oh I would love this… it’s like a blank canvas?! You can do so much with it.
Would you look at all that lovely space and air!!! I just love the unconventional… the more “different the better.”
LOVE! That barn is right up my alley…there’s something so inviting about a barn :)
Uhhh NO I wouldn’t have trouble at all! It would be incredibly fun.
I’ve always thought a gristmill would be a fun home.
Once I saw a home that had sheep hoof prints in the concrete floor…loved
it so much.
If I could hire a fabulous designer to help me out….yes, I would =)
You better believe it sister!
I would move in tonight if they’d let me! I love the look of both of these … the lightness and airiness of both are spectacular!
I think the fact that a space has had a different purpose makes it even more interesting. It would be fun to wander around a home, wondering who, or what, had been there before me.
What I don’t understand is why we don’t build more houses like this to BEGIN with! Custom and artistic spaces do seem to be a thing of the past unless you have big bucks to customize. I would love to build a home some day with so much personality and with ideas that would work for my family, not just what a house is “supposed to be.” I’m one of those people who secretly wants a slide or swing inside my house. :)
I bet if all of us who “secretly” want those things were less secret and more open about our desires, home builders/designers would start putting them in! :D
I wouldn’t think twice on all counts. I think it just gives the house more character and lends for a great story as well. Now if the house used to belong to a mass murdered or the unibomber…I wouldn’t have to think twice on that either….NO WAY Jose!
So excited to read your recap of Alt! I’ve had a conflict for the past couple of years and have never been able to attend. This year I had a newborn to take of so I won’t complain, but next year is my year!
Loved staying up to date with everyone via twitter.
I’ve always loved the idea of living in an “unconventional” home. I especially like the idea of big, open spaces and fun details.
Those homes are beautiful! Love the airy, open feel… A converted barn would be just about perfect in my book, though I always thought there was something slightly sad about turning a worship space into a living space. Maybe it’s the thought that people once gathered there to do something sacred and profound…and now it houses your deluxe master bathroom. Heh.
On the other hand, the best way you could honor a building’s past would be to give it a future…many of these spaces would most likely have just sat unused otherwise. It would certainly be part of the wonderful story about your home, as other people have pointed out.
Absolutely! Especially if it was an old church and it came with an architect.
Totally love the idea of living in a non-traditional home!
ah, yesss. this is something i’ve been craving for a while. i’ve been vowing to make my next project a warehouse.
i would totally be the one to move in tomorrow. that sounds awesome.
of course….i would even build my house to look like one of those…. :)
Hmmm, is this in reference to you guys thinking about renovating a little something in France?
Our house is over 100 years old. The upstairs had a separate entrance and used to be servants quarters during segregation in the South. It is now our bedrooms and I often wonder about who lived up there.
My grandparents live in a converted barn – and the original threshing floor is used as flooring in the dining room and as the kitchen kitchen top. The layout is really unusual. It was designed by an architect who I think bought the barn in original condition. Overall, it’s awesome – four floors, with the top being a loft, and a big open space in the middle that goes from floor to roof. If you’re curious, here’s the inside http://www.flickr.com/photos/trunkbutt/6578890685 and here’s the view from the third floor to the second http://www.flickr.com/photos/trunkbutt/6578901221 I love it!
My husband and I have always said that we’d love to live in a desanctified church or an old one room schoolhouse. The images above are great! Love how bright and airy the former church looks…
One of my childhood friends lived in a house that his parents built from barn plans. It was incredible.
I have lived in a former livestock home before, in Africa. Not sure I want to relive that experience :)
definitely pack my bags and move in tomorrow- that is, if I could convince my better half…………………….
welcome back!
Love that barn house! Wow! Would take either in a heartbeat!
I lived across from an old fire-station growing up and at one point there was a family with kids living there and I got to see the inside. Even though I was young I still remember how cool it was – exposed brick, high ceilings, and of course the fireman pole!
This would be like a dream come true. Why builders/contractors do not use exsisitng spaces like this is beyond me. When I was growing up… a family in my town revamped a HUGE barn to comfortably fit their family of 7. My friend’s bedroom was in what used to be a hay loft. To this day… it was one of the best houses I have ever stepped foot in. So magical!
I would JUMP in! Hope you do too. Can’t wait to see…!
I love the open feel! Lofts certainly have their appeal too and recall one at a fiend’s home. Well, I used to live in a barn. It was one of my favorite apartments. :)
I once lived in an old Pentecostal church with a full baptismal font in the living room in East Nashville, TN. We had the most amazing parties in that place!
A lot of the houses on the island where I live used to be farmhouses so it’s pretty normal for us. However, they tend to have smaller rooms, unlike the spaces in the photos above.
I love this post! I actually live in a converted barn in upstate New York. It has an open layout, wood floors, and a cute old woodstove – very cozy and grandma chic, if you will. People always give me the funniest looks when I tell them I live “in a barn” – I love seeing their reactions when they step inside and actually see the space. Definitely unconventional, but I love barn living!
Love the openness of the barn. It is so beautiful!
Ohmygoodness. These are my swoony lottery dreamhouses. I would LOVE to repurpose a building and turn it into a house. The entire idea of it just makes me fluttery.
i can’t think of anything BETTER than living in a former firehouse. SIGN ME UP!
I have wanted to do this for a long time, there is a church that I have my eye on.
My husband and I have long talked about how much we’d love to renovate or move into an old barn, firehouse, or church. We’ve been in some amazing spaces like this. Maybe some day!
And welcome back! Wish I could have joined you all at AltSummit — looks like it was fantastic.
I always wanted to live in a strip center (aka shopping center aka strip mall). You know, those things you see all over Generica, that always have at least one nail salon and one Subway or Quizno’s? I came up with this idea when I was a girl in late-’80′s Houston, when there were vacant buildings everywhere you looked. I thought each store could be a separate room and I could connect them all together via the stockrooms in the back. There would be lots of windows (on one side only) and plenty of parking. I would furnish it with modern, minimalist furnishings.
Probably not what most people would want, but in southwest Houston there aren’t a lot of barns or historic firehouses. :)
My parents best man at there wedding later went on to renovate an old church in the south of england. It was a dream for all of us 8 kids to visit, so many nooks and crannies to explore; we loved it till bed time, then it became a bit spooky and I was glad to be sharing a bed!
Before buying our house in the burbs of LA I looked at all kinds of commercial property. My dream was to have my kids clothing line that I had at the time continue to grow in the same space as my kids. I found some pretty buildings that were former, fire houses, sweat shops, factories. Problem was the neighborhood and the buildings themselves were often toxic for kids. Chemicals previously used were still present, un safe neighborhoods etc. But I still dream. I LOVE things made for a commercial use repurposed for residential spaces.
i would say without thinking yesssss.
I have lived my whole live in not commen houses.
Now i live on the first time ever in a new build house. But it’s a very special project of Fokus appartments. It’s build in the middle of the old centre of Haarlem and mine is on the top of the roof.
It’s feeling like an vacationhome. And it ‘s large i can see the hughe clouds out of my sliding windows where Haarlem and Holland is famous about.
My other places where an antique small house for poor fabric workers of the other centuary of the church. We only had the half of it, and it was in the centre as well. But it wasn’t healthy but the atmosphere was great, i learned to share my things with other poor people.
Later i lived in a container home, that wasn’t funny, and much later i have lived for years in a living group. So big places and sharing things is my fave.
Now because i’m a wheelie this is my first place i need help and care of others like the fokus assistents. but they are soo well trained that i have almost a normal live here. I can wake up the time i will and can go out late, because the hours i need daily are on 24 hours available during the hole week.
So often i’m telling every one i’m sooo lucky.LOL Which they don’ t get.LOL
I would move in a heart beat. I LOVE unconventional spaces. I was just in a gorgeous – HUGE – old home yesterday that at one time in its life was a barn. So cool – with a big old fireplace in the middle. I’d love the challenge of doing this myself.
I am actually seeking out this type of structure for our next home! The older and funkier the better. I found an old Mercantile building built in 1850 in Central City, CO that I have been daydreaming over turning into a residence/art studio. I’m more worried about being haunted than the challenge of renovations :) Isn’t it lovely?http://www.loopnet.com/xNet/MainSite/Listing/Profile/Profile.aspx?LID=17267098
I love these spaces for how they were once unconventional spaces as homes…we almost purchased a 100 year old barn last year….it had been restored and had wonderful features. It just needed lots of white paint..but no garage and no variance to build one. This year with a mild winter, we may have gone for it…but last year…couldn’t quite do it. Seeing these beautiful spaces makes me wonder… But we did purchase a home built in 1900. I have yet to see it…so that’s the fun part. Moving from CA to CT in July.
I’ve been meaning to tell you about a story about a lovely little old church in Kenmare, Ireland. It was converted into a charming restaurant called The Vestry, where my husband proposed to me 14 years ago, and where we had our wedding dinner 13 1/2 years ago. Recently my husband googled the restaurant and we discovered that its latest incarnation is a home – that is for sale! I think the conversion was done thoughtfully, and the finished spaces look lovely. What a dream it would be for us to live in this space that is so special to us…. but sigh, we (and our 4 children) are in Kentucky now, not Ireland! Here is a link with photos of it: http://homehuntdirect.ie/the-vestry-kenmare.html
By the way, in England it is very common for people to live in various kinds of converted buildings. It’s quite desirable to be able to find an old place in the country and fix it up. I have an aunt and uncle who restored an old barn for their home, but you also find people living in old water mills, lighthouses – all kinds of things. In the cities, many apartments are in old breweries, factories, ware-houses etc.