Monasteries as hotels
Like many other people, I've always thought an old church would be an interesting place to convert into a home. Maybe a stay in a monastery that's now a posh hotel would satisfy my curiosity. Intelligent Life Magazine takes a tour of a few of them around the world. Monasteries: The Latest Boutique Hotels
the latest
latest episodes
I think I'd be creeped out living in a church.
I mean...all those WEDDINGS! Ugh.
While an undergrad at NYU in the late 80's, I had the great fortune to land a spot in the Judson Hall dormitory, a former monestary attached to the landmarked Judson Church next door (on Washington Sq. South).
Most of the rooms were single-occupancy and therefore highly coveted, even though some of them (like mine) were certainly spartan and barely larger than their twin bed and desk, with a few square feet to navigate -- about three paces long and barely wider than my armspan. It was formerly a monk's cell, but it had a window and it's own sink and I loved every minute of it! Friends had a double room in the de-commissioned bell tower, with what may have been the greatest 270-degree views of lower Manhattan in the village.
The building was heavily renovated after (I believe) a flood in the early OO's and I'd love to see what the interior looks like these days.
I sort of miss The Limelight (NYC)
I passed by an old church in Brooklyn one night and did a double take when I realized it was converted into an apartment. Personally, I think it would be a great place to live, sturdy stone structure with ornate designs all over the place. Still, there's a chance it could be like dorming in a Catholic school... which would be pure hell.
This is a pretty old idea though. They've been doing this in Spain for decades. Even the boutique-ness. They tried that in Santiago, León and a few others I think, but in the 80s made them all part of one reasonably affordable chain. Nice hotels, generally, though most are over decorated—but great food!
JAHKNOW @3, Yes! Good memory. I had forgotten that place even though my now-wife worked there while in college!!!
"Hey hey, we're the Monk-ies..."
A church in my hometown was bought by a family and converted into a house. I never went inside to see the changes, but I do know they got rid of the Pepto Pink carpet . . .
My husband and I stayed in the Belford Hostel in Edinburgh. It was obviously not a fancy hotel, but it was interesting that the dorm rooms were just loft-style enclosures in the old sanctuary of the church building. Good location too.
http://www.edinburghhostels.com/belford.htm
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HDSjfDsiBvU
We stayed at a converted convent in Gyor, Hungary when I was a kid. I think it was luxurious, at least by just-after-Communism Hungarian standards. It was nice, anyway, even though it felt haunted.
I would recommend that anybody traveling in Italy, particularly Umbria and Tuscany regions looking into the many Monasteries and Convents who have hostel or hotel space for guest. While living in Orvieto, many of the friends who visited got a room in the Monastery there, and when I traveled to other places, I normally staid in other Monastery's. (Arezzo, Perugia, and Grosseto all had wonderful places.) I would guess that many other places do as well.
This is great, I've always fantasized that if I woke up in some post apocalypic landsacpe I would move into a giant church. (In fact didn't Homer do this in the "Omega Man" parody? My memory is hazy.)
@#3
I miss the Limelight too. I walked by it the other day and was horrified to see it had been converted to a giant clothing store. There was a guy dj-ing while European tourists looked at rhinestone encrusted t-shirts. I left in disgust.
The Welsh Revivals left Wales with a surfeit of Methodist chapels, and many of those now unused for their original purpose have been turned into homes. The downside is that the "Pull up a pew" joke wears incredibly thin very quickly...
double whammy: My wife and I got married in a Baptist church that had been converted into a bed-and-breakfast:
http://www.landmark-inn.com/
That was a fun time; a black southern-evangelical preacher marrying two ex-mormons in a hellfire-damnation ceremony. With carrot cake afterwards!
Arlo Guthrie owns the church made famous in Alice's Restaurant...it's now The Guthrie Center, a nondenomentational meeting house
in channel 4 Grand Designs http://www.channel4.com/4homes/on-tv/grand-designs/episode-guides/cornwall-the-chapel-08-05-19_p_1.html
Monasteries are great. The heavy stone walls and high arched ceilings keep you cool in the summer -- that's always more of an issue in Europe than keeping warm in the winter -- and their layout is perfect for a small hotel: reception rooms, big kitchen and refectory, and a bunch of little rooms for guests.
I lived in a former Carmelite monastery in Wheeling, W.Va., for two years after college. The first post-nun owner of the property built a free-standing residence within the chapel, but most of the rest of the place was left intact.
I rented a novice's "cell" for $175 per month, utilities included. It was a 9x12 room in a hall with 11 other such rooms, a kitchen, living room, two bathrooms and a large solarium. The next year, I lived on the second floor of the free-standing chapel structure. I could lift the ceiling tiles and look at the old chapel architecture, but the best part was the entrance, which was downstairs and was the old church entrance. Our doors were massive, two-inch-thick arched beasts which opened into our foyer, which was all marble and still had nooks and crannies for religious items.
Our law firm is based in a 100+ year old former church. You can find a brief flash tour on our website:
http://www.beasleyfirm.com/beasley_law_firm_building_tour_philadelphia_historical_landmark
if that didn't work:
http://bit.ly/3YVnWq
I've seen real estate listing for churches remodeled into homes, including one recently in San Francisco. The place looked really stunning, although a bit modern for my taste. As far as I can remember, it was selling for just a few million dollars more than I can afford. ; )
On a trip to Provence in 2006, we stopped at a delightful restaurant at the Hotel Le Couvent Royal in Saint-Maximin-la-Sainte-Baume. As the name says, it was formerly a convent. It was used by the Dominican order from its origins in the 13th century until 1959.
The food and the service were excellent. If you're ever in Provence...
There's a humongous church in Greenwich Village, on West 10th or 11th or 12th Street, that was converted to co-ops not long before I moved to New York in 1983--the earliest example of such conversion I know of. It's the building in extremely Greek Revival style; looks like a little Parthenon before the medieval bombs got to it.
And there's a really bizarre example off the Bayswater Road in London, where a church seems to have interbred with a block of flats.
I've seen guidebooks to the monastery hotels of Europe. Super-tempting idea for us lapsed Catholics . . .
Recent transplant to Sydney - stayed in monastery temporary housing here to start. They must use proceeds to fund the retired preisthood. Chevalier Resource Center.
I lived for a couple of years in the converted transept of an active church (which I attended, so the services and weddings were all part of the fun!)
Aside from the problems with church mice, I miss the 12 foot rose window over my bed, the probably 20 foot high pointed ceiling complete with beams you could only clean on a ladder. Great place to wake up in the mornings, and with 3 foot thick walls you could play the music as loud as you wanted without upsetting the neighbours!
My favorite use of a church is my local place in the US, the Church Brew Works. The beer is killer- cherry imperial stout is to die for.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Church_Brew_Works
Best beer in Pittsburgh! Now, the best combination of things would give you a brewery on the main level, a house to live in the upper level/belltower, and a whorehouse in the basement, right below the altar.
Ha!
Oh, how nice! I stayed at the Abbaye de la Bussiere eight or nine years ago and had forgotten the name until I saw it in the article. Thanks!