The conversion of the Devonport church was finally completed after five difficult years

Things He first visited Lesley Harris at the beginning of his plan to renovate and transform two dedicated churches in Devonport, Auckland.

In 2017, the scheme was a twinkle in its eye – the old St Augustine’s Anglican Church in Calliope Rd, which was two old churches, already had a Historic Place Category 2 listing, and had just been bought through tenders. $1.32 million.

Since then, most of the village has followed his progress, when he finished, first the church at the back, because it was in danger of falling, and then he built the brick that was in front of it. Both homes, which can be purchased together or separately, have been listed for just one week and have had 6700 Trade Me offers.

“My agent, Kara Barnston of Unlimited Potential, said she’s never seen anything like it,” says Harris. “It’s gone to school. People are very attracted to it, and they’ve always been doing it.

“It’s very unusual, and I think I did a very good job. I did.” [years ago] that I had never seen a good conversion of the church, and I wanted to be the first.

“Everyone has a story to tell about this house. And I’ve had a lot of support from the community, because it’s always been about doing good with the building. I always say, ‘you work with heritage first’.

Now, Harris, and her husband Wayne Kelly, are done with everything they want to do, they say it’s time for a change. “It’s been exhausting,” he admits. “We’ve had a lot of struggles over the last few years, and I feel like I’ve been fighting for a house for five years, and dealing with the council. But we got there in the end, and we’ve kept an important heritage building.”

However, Harris, director of media for the First Home Buyers Club, has another adventure planned, building high-end, world-class, European-style homes. And following this, he would like to do more “heavy lifting”. He has the reputation and ability to do both, he has the ability to “walk and be brave”.

However, for now, there are two old churches that claim to be interested. Harris has received permission to split and is just waiting for the final sign, if buyers want to buy separately.

Both homes have generated over $120,000 in Airbnb listings since they were completed.

The church at the back has been converted into a house, with a beautiful kitchen and a master bedroom that looks out across the harbor.

The brick church building with two skins in the front is left as a large, open space, so that the exposed beams and rose windows can be appreciated. There are two bedrooms and a study, or you can have four bedrooms and two bathrooms.

Harris has used it as a home, museum and art studio. “We kept it as an open space, because I didn’t want to close it, which might not be something anyone would want to do,” he says.

The restoration work included strengthening the bell tower, and replacing every window in the front building, including the lead lights – in place. The front of the church still has its original rose window, beautiful exposed trusses and wooden floors. And Harris admits that they increased their big budgets on both houses.

And then there were the special moments, including the wedding of Harris and Kelly in the church. There were also discoveries, which included the discovery of wood with the signatures of the original builders, and managed to trace family members.

Harris says there were several signs in the churchyard, one of which was for a child who had died. “We managed to find the woman in Canberra and we returned the sign to her.”

Kara Barnston of Unlimited Potential has listed the property at 95A Calliope Road, Devonport for sale with a closing date of July 19, 2021.