A home full of grace: First a church, then a ballet studio
Many of us -- if we're lucky -- consider our home a sanctuary.
For the residents of 1527 Harmony Street in New Orleans, it's just a fact.
The sense of grace that imbues the space is no accident: Before it was a home, it was a ballet studio -- and before that, in its original incarnation starting in the 1920s, it was the Westminster Presbyterian Church.
The building, on the market now for $2.5 million, is an architecturally "fascinating" structure, Keller Williams listing agent Britton S. Galloway tells Yahoo Homes. The "Gaudi-esque treatment," as he calls it, is "very unique -- for this city, anyway"; he cites, for example, its practically "rococo" concrete cornices, which look "almost like they're dripping."
The owners bought the place in 1999 and undertook an extensive renovation. First, though, they wove their own personal history into its fabric:
"Our wedding reception took place in this building as well," they write in a short essay for prospective owners. "It was before the renovation started in earnest. The band was on the stage, with a sheer curtain revealing them." Light poured in through the colored windows, increasing the "intensity of the setting." Up in the balcony, they had a New Orleans "performance painter" named Frenchy capture the scene. "The guests were double the number painted," yet everyone who was there claims to be able to point to a figure and say "That's me!" (Click here or on a photo for a slideshow including the balcony, a glimpse of Frenchy's painting, and historical photos from the building's former incarnations.)
"There is a magic in the big room," the owners say, that reminds them of the Matisse Chapel in Vence, France.
The building now consists of three one-bedroom apartments, each about 1,000 square feet and renting for about $1,000 a month, plus a 10,000-square-foot main residence. The owners are selling because they're simply "ready to downsize" and "don't really need 13,000 square feet," Galloway told Yahoo Homes.
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