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More on KentOnline
A 19th century church has been transformed into a unique family home.
Dave and Melissa Skelton worked for six years to turn a disused building in Snodland into a stylish home now up for £900,000.
Mr Skelton said: “We wanted to maintain the integrity of this beautiful old building, but at the same time create a real home that would work perfectly for modern living."
The majority of the downstairs has been left open plan with great stretches of walls - the highest point from floor to ceiling is 10m.
A stone pulpit and organ sit alongside sleek white worktops and a glass mezzanine.
There are five bedrooms including a 'yoga area' with the master bedroom in the tower and beautiful stained glass windows set in walls of Kentish ragstone.
The old Sunday school of the grade two listed property has been converted into an office but has a small kitchen, toilet and shower room so could easily be used as an annex.
Originally the Church of the New Jerusalem, part of the Swedenborgian group, it was built in the High Street in 1881 but has not been used as a religious building since the late 1980s.
Mr Skelton bought it in 2011, intending to use it as office space for his electrical company. But when he met his wife, they realised it could make an incredible home.
He said: "It had been empty for a long time and was in bad condition. Windows were smashed, it was very overgrown - it would have soon been past the point of saving."
The couple, both 35, did almost all renovation themselves.
Appearing on Homes Under the Hammer many years ago, previous buyers got planning permission to turn it into two houses before developers bought it.
The Skeltons later applied for it to be one house.
An interior designer by trade, Mrs Skelton said: "It did push us, the sheer amount of work - just constantly being like we have got to get this done."
It came on the market this month, with the couple and their two-year-old son Harri planning to move to the coast.
Mr Skelton added: “It is a property steeped in history and we have breathed new life into it so it will be around for generations to come."
