The 130-year-old Te Aroha Baptist Church is on the market for only the second time in its long history. Photo / Supplied
The 130-year-old Te Aroha Baptist Church is on the market for only the second time in its long history. Photo / Supplied
An Auckland-based artist who purchased a church on a "whim" as he drove through a small Waikato town six years ago, is selling the building which comes with a baptism pool.
Stuart Shepherd bought the 200sq m church in 2012 from the Te Aroha Baptist Church after the congregation it needed larger premises.
The 130-year-old church, built from native timber, was relocated from Te Aroha's main street to Centennial Ave about 30 years ago.
Shepherd spotted the unique building as he was driving through on a road trip from Wellington and "bought it on a whim".
"I am originally from the Waikato and I was looking for a change. And I thought the church would represent this change and I was looking for an affordable studio space."
Shepherd lived in the church for a year, but his fantasy of turning it into a grand art studio never eventuated and the location ended up being too far away from friends, family and work as an art teacher.
"It was a little bit isolated and I missed some aspect of city life mostly the job."
But since he moved out the property has not been sitting idle and has been home to a potter and now a semi-retired musician who is making the most of the acoustics from the high wooden ceilings.
It has also been the backdrop for a wedding anniversary as a son arranged for his parents to return to the place where they were married to carry out their celebrations 50 years on, a private concert and a recording studio for two Auckland bands.
"The acoustics are fantastic. It is wooden, it's got a sloped wooden ceiling and it has a loving resonance so it's great for voices and great for drums apparently," Shepherd said.
The church is still largely original since the congregation left it six years ago. There is a church hall with a stage, pulpit and a trap door in the stage will even reveal a hot pool fitting six people where baptisms were carried out.
Shepherd has never dared use the pool, but said there was potential for it to be used once the wiring was checked.
Behind the hall are the priest's chambers which has a kitchen with a wood burning stove, a bedroom, bathroom and a separate toilet.
"I advertised it as a church/apartment as it feels like an apartment at the back."
The church is heritage protected preventing the external building to altered without resource consent, but alterations can be made inside.
The high wooden ceilings in the church are a draw card for musicians. Photo / Supplied
The 850sq m section provides ample car parking for between six and eight cars.
The property has a rateable value of $240,000. Shepherd said he had put it out to tender so the market could dictate the price, but despite its uniqueness was pricing it similarly to a "quality residential property in the neighbourhood". The median house price in Te Aroha is $395,350.
"I'm expecting whoever buys it will live there and use it as a home business of some kind."
He only listed the property on Trade Me on the weekend, but said he had already received some interest which he also put down to tourism growing in the area due to the nearby Te Aroha Mineral Spas, cycle trail and Hobbiton in Matamata.
