My parents are not the type to back down from a challenge. In 2021, they bought an old church in downtown Grand Junction; they knew remodeling it into a livable space would take a lot of work. When they bought The Church (we refer to it as a proper noun) it had all the elements you’d expect — stained glass windows, a wide-open chapel space and some stained wood pews where I imagine a congregation once sat. While all the “church” boxes were checked, it lacked in the “home” genre; there was only one space that was even remotely close to a bedroom, one bathroom, no laundry and the kitchen looked straight from the 80s (imagine bright pink cabinets and a teal, maroon and navy checkerboard backsplash).

That being said, it was important that the “church feel” remained as a strong presence after the remodel. My dad, Randall, had a much more hands-on role in the remodel than I did and explained that, “From the outset, we wanted to maintain the churchiness of The Church.” To do this, they integrated some of the original elements into the remodel. The chapel has beautiful golden arches that connect two open spaces, so when we redid the kitchen, we recreated those arches to connect it with the chapel space.

The kitchen was just the first of many projects. While the chapel is a beautiful space, my family of five needs more bedrooms. So, we began construction again, building a loft space with two bedrooms and a closet. “We lived in a construction zone for 18 months,” my dad recalls.

While the upstairs is now complete, my parents’ work is still not done. They are in the beginning phases of building a garage and additional living space on the side of The Church in an attempt to address the parking problem that is common amongst downtown homeowners. Throughout this process, we’ve had the help of a local contractor to make sure everything is up to code.

Aside from parking, living downtown is quite possibly the best part of living in The Church. My family walks to Enstrom every day, my siblings bike to Lunch Loops and we simply can’t get enough of the restaurants Downtown GJ has to offer. “It’s the cultural, social and business heart of the Western Slope,” my dad elaborates. Safe to say the new location is worth the less-than-optimal parking.

While there is still a lot of work to be done, The Church has become a physical manifestation of what my family strives to be — a loving center with room for continuous growth. “Initially, The Church wasn’t a comfortable house,” my dad says. “It only had one bedroom and one bathroom and the kitchen was barely usable. We moved to it from a comfortable house in a clean but boring subdivision. Two years later, it feels like home.”

Originally published in the Winter 2022-23 issue of Spoke+Blossom.

Church Living