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my wife, laura, and i purchased a former church in neavitt, maryland and, working with contractor, eric rubin, are slowly transforming it into our future home. the photographs below begin with the existing conditions (early 2023) and go through the most recent conditions.
the project is divided into two phases:
phase 1: demolition, lifting, and stabilization, roof and siding repair
phase 2: interior renovation including plumbing, electrical, and heating/cooling which we hope to begin in early 2026 and complete in mid-2026.
our intention is to honor the original structure so that it could, theoretically, be reversed back into a church. all 21st century modifications will be "of our time": distinct, yet respectful. new elements, such as the kitchen cabinets, are interpretations of 19th century "protestant" unpretentious furniture and architecture. the focus is on scale, proportion, craft, and materials.
this page is chronological, so if you want to see the latest developments you have to scroll.
the neavitt united methodist church circa 1970s
the church's street facade in early 2023
2023
drone photo looking toward the east (the 1868/1921 "sanctuary" is to the far right, the 1973 "social hall" is in the middle, and the 1948 "parish house" is the far left)
plan of the existing conditions
the trinity: sanctuary, social hall, and parish house
drone photo looking north
drone photo looking south (the "parish house" is in the immediate foreground)
we phased the project for one reason: waste removal. talbot county was in the process of planning a new sewer system (estimated completion: december 2025) and would not approve any new waste removal systems (and building permits that involved plumbing) until it completed that new system.
while the church's existing system functioned, changing use from commercial to residential would require us to install a code compliant system. (we jokingly suggested to change back to a "church" but they said it was too late).
the county staff, with whom we have had a great relationship (they have been supportive and open to the project), said we could stabilize and repair the structure (including siding, roofing, etc.). essentially, everything from the interior walls outward.
the "parish house" looking south (standing on balls creek road)
the "parish house" entry bay with the corner of the "social hall" on the right (standing on balls creek road)
the front facade showing the belfry tower and main entrance
interior of the sanctuary and pulpit bay (notice that the pulpit windows cover the 1973 addition)
interior of the sanctuary (the door to the left--next to the window--leads to the "social hall"
interior of the "sunday school" (with a storage room); church decorations, hymnals, tables, etc. were donated to other churches
standing in the "social hall" looking toward the "parish house". the floor structure in both had rotted and collapsed.
the most obvious issue was the floor structure in all three parts of the church. while the sanctuary "looked" fine, it was, in reality, as as damaged as the newer additions but probably did not collapse or deflect because of the 10"x10" beams. the 2x10/2x12 joists and beams in the 1948 and 1973 additions, however, were not thick enough to withstand the moisture damage.
the collapsed "social hall" floor (the wall with the painting is the backside of the pulpit bay)
the "sunday school" main window
the 1973 "social hall" addition between the 1948 "parish house" (left) to the "sanctuary" (right). the "social hall" solved several problems in the 1970s: connecting the parish house and sanctuary and providing restrooms, additional event space, and a new furnace room. unfortunately, the addition covered much of the sanctuary's north wall (thus making the sanctuary much darker) and its paired windows and low ceilings (in relation to the room's width and depth) made the space somewhat oppressive.
we decided to remove the "social hall" in order to open up both the sanctuary and parish house. we would then reestablish the connection with a slender hallway.
typical window
demolition of the 1973 "social hall" which had covered 3/4 of the sanctuary's north wall (fall 2023)
mid-demo
demo nearly complete
the big reveal
sanctuary's exposed north wall revealing the pulpit bay and the original exterior paint color. the bay's center window was no where to be found
the parish house prepped and ready for lifting.
2024
parish house lifted by expert house movers (november 2023)
the parish house suspended in mid-air (look up expert house movers + pbs)
that's the vulcan range and other materials that remained on the ground . notice the beams attached to the long interior walls which supported the beams running through the windows. these were, in turn, supported by beams parallel to the long beams. it was a structural weave.
another view of the lifted parish house (much of the floor structure simply remained on the ground) -- (november 2023)
preparing for the sanctuary lift
the steel beams that will lift the sanctuary. this was the most complicated part of the project not only because of the sanctuary's existing multiple beams and joists, but because the lifters had to "low crawl" (like army soldiers beneath barbed wire) through mud and beneath the dank space.
the "sanctuary" lift begins (november 2023). once all steel beams were set, it only took about 2 hours to lift the entire sanctuary. the link below is the lift timelapse.
the sanctuary fully lifted (november 2023)
starting the new foundations. once lifted about 8' off the ground, masons removed the existing block foundations and debris, poured footings, and built the new block walls.
both the parish house and sanctuary lifted
sanctuary lifted (november 2023)
building the new foundations (early 2024)
building the parish house's new floor structure
building the new foundations (early 2024)
repairing the rotted wood beneath the sanctuary (early 2024)
repairing the rotted wood beneath the sanctuary (early 2024)
sistering in new 2x10s alongside the existing sanctuary floor structure
laura climbs up to the sanctuary (the ladder rests on the front door threshold--so that's about 8 feet above grade)
new foundations (early 2024)
"while you're at it": adding on 12" to the parish house walls (eric rubin added 9' studs to the underside of the header)
parish house lowered on to the new floor structure and foundations.
fortunately, the county allowed us to build the foundations for the future hallway connector
here you can clearly see the lifting steel "weave" supporting the complex floor structure.
new base beams
the sanctuary lowered onto the new foundations (spring 2024)
stripping off the asbestos siding (summer 2024)
ready for siding patch and repairs
patching and repairing the original cedar siding (the original paint was a medium gray) (summer 2024)
new roof with new sheathing
replacing the roofs (summer 2024)
looking through the sanctuary ceiling toward the open roof
from inside the sanctuary when they removed the old roofing (summer 2024)
the steeple's new galvanized roof--by chris jordan exteriors (who did an excellent job) (summer 2024)
the sanctuary looking toward the pulpit bay
"sanctuary" --the pulpit bay is to the right
former "sunday school" main window's lower panes replaced with clear glass
the "sunday school" ceiling
where termites (from below) met water damage (from above)
that same area repaired
the new connecting hallway (spring 2024). we asked for the second and final addendum to the stabilization permit: frame the connecting hallway. the county, by this time, knew the sewer project was well underway and thought it reasonable that we should make the building weather tight.
window studies (spring 2024)
windows installed in the "parish house" (summer 2024)--a bit out of sequence (that's the old roof)
paint tests (fall 2024)
the final paint color (fall 2024)
2025
this is about 1 year after lifting (early 2025)
about 1 year after lifting (early 2025)
window restoration and repair (spring 2025)
shopping for replacement stained glass (early 2025). if you ever want to see an amazing array of stained glass (and other art glass) you should visit "anything in stained glass" in frederick, maryland.
window repair and restoration--of all 15 windows, this was the most extensive
windows during the restoration and repair (early 2025)
starting phase 2 in fall 2025
proposed plan (summer 2025)
model of the storage wall between the living room and dining room (the kitchen is to the right) (summer 2025). as you can imagine, there is very little storage space in a church (closets, cabinets, etc). I incorporated this "poche'" into a thick "wall" which also acted as a threshold between the foyer and dining area and between the dining area and living room.
study of the screened porch that will be off the connecting hallway (fall 2025).
the calm before the interior renovation begins (fall 2025)
pews removed
top sash drops down as well...alas, we'll probably need to fix and seal these for energy efficiency.
2026
framing begins! 02/26/26 -- perfect number for it. the plan shows existing (dark gray walls) and proposed (hatched walls).
attic above the bedroom and bathroom wing (formerly the "parish house")
the first rod is up (19 march 2026)
rods finishing up
firing and final framing
experimenting with artificial intelligence: the dining/kitchen area
experimenting with artificial intelligence: the living room
we removed the round (rose) window only to discover extremely weathered wood and some rot. no surprise in hindsight: it's outer side faced southwest and its inner side was in a hot attic for over 100 years. we looked at different ways to save it but ultimately decided to replicate it. options included 3-D printing (plastic was not heat tolerant) and expensive ($$$), CNC routing ($$$) or custom remake ($$$$). I decided to do it myself using 3 layers of 1/2" plywood.
it's ok (grade: "good" or a "B / B-")...but the imperfections won't be seen from 20+ feet away. we will reuse most of the original stained glass but a few pieces need to be replaced (cracked) or not in the same shape as the new slot (apparently when installing some of the replacement glass over the years, the original window frame had started to "droop" thus some of the existing glass pieces are slightly flattened arcs.
small but significant steps this past few weeks: plumbing, final framing, electrical, hvac, floors patched, and furring all coming together!
we reused wood from the choir platform and other found lumber
i am working with zach, abenezer, and nora @ baltimore's openworks to fabricate the display boxes. i drew the "boxes" in sketchup and they transferred them to the cnc software. they are using 3/4" baltic birch that with a clear coat finish.
mock-up of a display cube. the groove and hole on top is for low voltage lighting
drywall installed in two days! finishing? well, that'll take a couple of weeks.
drywall and spackling proceeding (june 20-30, 2026)
The replacement (exterior/weatherproof) round window has been installed. The divided stained glass window (which I rebuilt) will be interior only and sit against the clear window (june 30, 2026)
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