When most people passed by the former St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church, they just saw an empty building.
Maxine and Dave Gunn saw their dream home.
The long-time Flin Flon couple is converting the Whitney Street landmark into a spacious residence as stylish as any in the area.
“A lot of people are [saying], ‘That’s fantastic, I’ve always wanted to do that!’ and then other people are like, ‘You guys are both nuts,’” says Maxine as she stands in the daylight of her future living room.
“We thought if you buy somebody else’s home, then you’ve still got to make a bunch of changes,” adds Dave, “and in order to get what you really want, you almost have to start from scratch.”
The Gunns had been looking for a new home with wide-open spaces but couldn’t find anything suitable on the real estate market.
St. Andrew’s had closed as a church in 2011 due to declining attendance. A subsequent plan to turn the building into a daycare fell through.
Transform
So in 2013 the Gunns stepped in to purchase the approximately 6,400 sq-ft building and transform it.
Theirs was an ambitious one-third / one-third / one-third plan. A third of the building would be their home; a third would be storage; and a third (the chapel) would be a high-end apartment.
Passing through the front door of the home portion, guests are greeted by a rectangular living room. Down one staircase is an office area and family room; up another are two bedrooms, a heated-floor washroom and a kitchen overlooking the vast premises.
Work on the apartment has not quite begun, but the Gunns have already elicited interest.
Even before the purchase went through, Maxine felt a special connection to the building. It was, after all, her childhood church.
Moreover, the last ceremony held at St. Andrew’s was a memorial service for her mother, Billie Fardoe, in 2011.
