Selling Houses Australia: Ellalong, a characterful church conversion
From rundown, drafty church to stunning, cosy home
Photography Melissa Heath/Selling Houses Australia
The first episode is always gonna have a piece of my heart. Whenever Dennis and I arrive at one of the renovation sites on Selling Houses Australia, we’re filled with trepidation! This one was no exception - but I’d be telling a lie if I didn’t admit that a huge part of me was also thrilled. It’s a design dream of mine to take on a church, and this sweet little one with its fairly simple floor plan was dilapidated but had so much potential.
And then we met Trish. She told us such a beautiful story about her partner Michael, whose life was cut way too short. Trish is a woman after my own heart - she loves a project and she and Michael could see the huge potential of her church home. But with the loss of Michael, she felt unable to finish the project. She was also held back by just having too much stuff in the home. I love Trish the homeowner. I love her warmth and I really felt for her story and both Dennis and I really just wanted to give her the absolute best that we could. We had a big job to do!
The history of the St Thomas Church in Ellalong, Hunter Valley wine country
Trish’s home is the former St Thomas church, which captured the couple’s hearts as they drove through the Hunter Valley back in 2015. She and Michael bought it for $228,000 when it was just a shell, and took on the work of converting it into a functional home themselves. It didn’t even have a kitchen!
Trish and Michael also loved music and the home was filled with eclectic finds, but when Michael died of an aggressive form of brain cancer, all the plans to renovate ended, and three years later Trish was rebuilding her life. She needed to sell to move back to South Australia to begin the next phase, taking care of her mum.
Trish wanted $1 million for the church in Ellalong, but after it sat on the market for seven months, she was also realistic. It was just in such poor condition and the budget was so tight (only $45,000) that we had to focus on the basics. We couldn’t give it a kitchen or bathroom, with all the work that needed to be done!
Budget kitchen update for a functional space
I would have really really liked to rip out this basic open-plan kitchen and do something special here, but it just wasn’t an option. When Trish and Michael bought it it didn’t have a kitchen at all, and this one is a great example of a space cobbled together on a budget - all the mismatched pieces had plenty of vintage charm but didn’t inspire a feeling of a functional kitchen.
On the show I said it didn’t feel clean - it wasn’t literally dirty but it was just so cluttered. Michael had painted the cupboards himself, but sadly, the eclectic look wasn’t going to cut it for the modern buyer! They originally were packing crates and you could tell. I focussed on sanding and painting them to give them a simple update. Then, I replaced the odd pieces of granite that made up the kitchen bench with just one.
All the appliances were upgraded to flash new Euromaid models, and the whole zone painted in fresh Wattyl White. The final touch was the Duette window furnishings by Luxaflex.
Creating lovely living areas in the open plan Ellalong church
This home was not staged for sale - it was just chaotic clutter, with furniture used to divide spaces. There was just too much stuff! If you want to buy a church like this, you just have to really love it. A church is difficult, and an old church like this comes with a whole set of problems. If you want to be warm and cosy in winter and if you wanna be nice and cool in summer, then these are not necessarily the best insulated buildings. So you're going to have to spend some money on that. You have to love the original features, and you have to be prepared to celebrate those and live with what comes with that, like insulation.
As far as the satisfaction and the love and the character that you can get out of living in a home like this. It's second to none. It's just so beautiful. It feels like a fairy tale. And that’s the vibe I wanted to bring to this update. So for the living room, it was clearing it out and letting those beautiful bones sing, and staging it with some complementary furniture.
The lack of privacy in the bedroom was one of the biggest concerns, and then meant building a clever partition wall (with a secret door) between it and the living room. We painstakingly applied the mural on the lounge side, to perfectly match the design so the door just… disappears!
Cosy rugs underfoot zoned the area and added welcome texture; these ones are ‘Allure Sky’ from Flooring Xtra. The arched doors were painted in fresh Wattyl White with window furnishings by Luxaflex. And cushions from Rapee add a final dash of softness.
Living room: Photography Melissa Heath/Selling Houses Australia
Budget ideas for beautiful bedrooms
The mezzanine bedroom ceiling was covered in corrugated iron, as were the walls in the main bedroom downstairs. A great country reference, yes, but not particularly beautiful, and I was thrilled to rip it off and replace it with VJ boards, painted in the same Wattyl White colour as the walls. The VJ just adds a nice bit of texture that feels right in this space and not contrary.
The downstairs bedroom though - what a stunning space! Thanks to the new wall, I was able to bring clever custom cabinetry with ‘Cammeray’ profiles from Polytec and then style it simply, and beautifully, for sale, with bedlinen in both rooms is Legend Linen’s Winton Quilt cover set in White.
Bedroom: Photography Melissa Heath/Selling Houses Australia
Did the home in Ellalong on Selling Houses Australia sell?
Yes! I am thrilled to report that the home sold for $760K! Would Trish have liked more money? Of course - she originally wanted $1 million. But she was very realistic about a difficult market and she knew she just had to move on, to start her new life in South Australia. And she has bought a new home there! She’s close to her mum and has some new projects on her agenda. Good on you, Trish!.
Who pays for the renovations on Selling Houses Australia?
Dennis Scott and myself pay with our blood, sweat and tears - along with some money from the homeowners! While Trish didn’t have a huge budget ($45K), meeting Trish made this renovation project even more special. She’d lost the love of her life, and the church was really her other great love. We had to do it and Michael’s memory justice. Working with a tight budget meant I had to be super creative and really focus my energy in all the right places. We called in every favour we could from suppliers and did a lot of the labour ourselves - which isn’t included in the budget. This way, we were able to get a great result for Trish.
