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• Across the world, people are buying old churches and turning them into modern homes. 
• A couple in Maryland renovated a $320,000 church, but they kept most of its original architecture. 
• A converted Gothic church in London is on the market for $8 million.
• Visit Insider's homepage for more stories.

Two home renovators bought a church in Ontario, Canada, and turned it into a single-family house.

The Sacred Heart Church was built in 1888 and put up for sale in 2018 after remaining abandoned for years. Lynn Perreault and Jonathon Harmer, owners of the home-decor business Harper and Co., decided to buy the building.

"This church was begging us to save it," Perreault and Harmer told Insider's Lauren Edmonds in an email.

For the next two years, the couple turned the abandoned church into a cozy home. 

The living space includes a living room, a large kitchen, and 26-foot high ceilings.

The open-concept space has most of the building's original architecture, while the kitchen has granite countertops and a 13-foot island. 

The master bedroom is in the church's former sanctuary space.

The master bedroom also has two closets for storage. 

A winding staircase leads to a second-floor loft.

The loft acts as an office or an added room for future buyers. 

The church is now on the market for $954,798 ($1.2 million CAD).

"I've seen [renovations] done with other churches and schoolhouses, and sometimes it's not done very well," realtor Brian Ellis told Edmonds. "Here, it's done immaculately — it's a work of art."

A couple in Chicago bought a 19th-century church and turned it into a private home and event space for the community.

Jim Jacoby and Molly Currey stumbled upon the church for sale on Zillow in 2017 and decided to buy it for $1.1 million. 

"We thought it would be funny to go look at a church," Jacoby told Insider. "The minute we walked up the stairs, we were like, 'Oh s---.' The church found us just as much as we found it."

The church's former altar is now Jacoby and Currey's living room.

Construction on the church began in 1888 and was completed two years later. The Episcopalians built the church with very little ornamentation. Jacoby calls it a "utilitarian" build, but the Catholics bought it in the 1930s and renovated it. The couple then put their own touches on the space to make it a home. 

The pews of the church were taken out of the building, and now, the home has an open concept floorplan.

The couple often uses this space to host musical events as a way to give back to their community. 

"What [does] a space like this mean in the 21st century where religion isn't nearly as central to our lives as it used to be?" Jacoby said. "The church ran services seven days a week in its heyday, and the neighbors went to church here, so we look for ways to share the space."

The kitchen is to the right of the living space.

Above the kitchen is a loft that has two extra bedrooms. In all, the 6,000-square-foot home has three bedrooms and two bathrooms. 

To give back to the community, the couple opened a restaurant and event space in the basement.

The restaurant has rotating guest chefs who can sleep at the church and host private events. 

"We want to continue this as our private residence, but we still want this to be part of the community in a meaningful way," Jacoby said. 

This church, which was built in Castleton, Vermont, in 1893, has been converted into a modern home.

The house was listed last year for $375,000 by Sue Bishop of Four Seasons Sotheby's International Realty. 

The former altar now acts as a grand entranceway into the home.

The home still holds some of its original architecture, like the 23-foot altar ceilings and stained-glass windows. 

The kitchen is large and lets in a lot of light.

There's a second kitchen in the house, which has cabinets made of recycled wood from the church's former pews. Additionally, there's also a separate dining room off the kitchen. 

A grand staircase made entirely of wood leads to the second floor.

On the second floor, you'll find most of the home's five bedrooms and three full bathrooms. 

The master suite is a split level and has access to the bell tower.

The bell tower has been converted into a dressing room. 

A couple in Maryland bought a church for $320,000 and turned it into a family home.

All Saints' Church was built 120 years ago and functioned as a place of worship until the '50s. It was deconsecrated two decades later and then sold to a few different owners, including one who turned it into a home. Anastasiia and Gunther bought it in 2017 for $320,000 with the intention of renovating it.

Throughout the renovation project, which is ongoing, the couple has made it their mission to preserve much of the original architecture.

"We try to keep everything as original as possible, as the owners prior to us did," Anastasiia told Business Insider. "We don't want to change anything that would damage the architectural integrity of the building."

The great hall is arguably the best room in the house.

The ceilings in the great hall reach 25 feet. 

One of the biggest challenges for the couple was finding furniture big enough to fit the 2,500-square-foot home.

The couple had to buy new furniture because their old belongings were too small. They had to purchase a 12-foot couch to fill the great hall.

The master bedroom is a loft that overlooks the large great hall.

Overall, the house has three bedrooms and two bathrooms. 

A church built in the 19th century in Exeter, Connecticut, was turned into a luxury home.

The church, which was built in 1849, underwent a renovation between 1985 and 1996 and was turned into a livable home. The converted church was recently on the market for $1.3 million. 

The interior has large, open spaces that are great for entertaining and everyday life.

The walls are painted white and the floors are a light shade to match. 

The 8,543-square-foot house has three bedrooms.

The home features stone, marble, and wood textures.

Some of the church's original details have been preserved.

Although the house includes modern appliances, some of the church's original architecture remains.

The lower part of the steeple has been turned into a rooftop patio.

From the converted steeple, you can see the Connecticut River.

A Gothic church in London has been converted into an urban mansion.

The 6,000-square-foot mansion is for sale for $8 million. 

The large great room has the church's original arches.

The great hall has a kitchen, a dining room, a living room, and a grand piano. 

There's a spiral staircase that leads to the bedrooms upstairs.

The staircase also highlights the home's original stained-glass windows.

The modern bedroom sits on the second floor of the converted church.

In all, the house has four bedrooms.

The home even has an enclosed garden courtyard.

The great hall also opens up onto the small, but private courtyard.

This San Franciscan church is a century old and has been turned into a luxury townhouse.

The church, known as The Light House, was built in 1915 and later became a church for Christian Scientists. Right before it was going to be demolished, a seismic engineer bought it and renovated the building in 2011. 

The building is now separated into three different condos, each costing $6.5 million.

The original wood walls of the building have remained throughout the renovation process. 

In one of the condos, there are wide open spaces paired with modern appliances.

This condo is 5,525 square feet, and it has three bedrooms and three bathrooms. 

Most of the building's original architecture has been preserved as well.

Throughout the condos, you will find original brickwork and industrial beams. 

However, it requires a "very special buyer," according to the realtor.

McGuire Real Estate leasing agent Jeanne Zimmermann told Business Insider in 2019, "Conversion properties are very popular to a niche market."

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