A long-forgotten 19th century church in upstate New York has been reborn as a breathtaking $3 million retreat, complete with a dramatic timber frame interior and a bell tower library. The early Greek Revival structure, which was built in 1837 and sits on 37 acres of land in the foothills of the Catskill Mountains, underwent a painstaking restoration that transformed the abandoned sanctuary into a sprawling luxury residence. At the heart of the property is the church's original structure, where huge hand-chopped beams, which are almost two centuries old, remain exposed. The beams create a cathedral-like space that dominates the home's interior. The structure stopped being used as a church in the 1990s when it fell into such disrepair that it was nearly torn down. Decades later, the property has been revived by architects Nik Vekic and Quinn Marquardt of ICDT Studio, who purchased the deteriorating structure in 2023 for $425,000. Over the next two years, Vekic and Marquardt undertook the meticulous transformation, turning the once-abandoned church into a 5-bedroom, 4½ bath, 6,242-square-foot residence that blends its historic bones with modern design. Beyond the walls of the former church, the property sits on 30 acres of land and includes wooded trails, streams, waterfalls and rock formations scattered across the rolling terrain.
