The residents of a former church that was recently converted into a single-family home won’t give up their place for a new seller — their resting place, that is.
When browsing homes for sale, you stumble upon a swimming pool or a newly built deck. But, have you ever seen a home that comes with a cemetery? A 19th-century renovated church listed for sale for $650,00 in Delware Township, N.J., has been rebranded for modern living, as long as you don’t mind sharing the property with a few former congregants.
This listing, about an hour from Philadelphia and an hour and 20 minutes from New York City, was featured on Zillow Gone Wild — an Instagram page dedicated to highlighting unique (and sometimes crazy) home listings across the county.
The former Locktown Christian Church first opened its doors in 1828, and later became a Presbyterian church in the 1980s. There are as many as 150 people buried in the cemetery, with the earliest gravestone being for Charity Allen, who died in 1843.
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While the home no longer holds the altars and pews of the former Hunterdon County church, it maintained several features like the church’s bell tower and the original pressed-tin walls and ceilings.
The home overlooks fields of preserved farmland and includes a smaller building that formerly served as the church’s parsonage. When you walk into the home, you’re met with a large great room, with a living room, dining room and kitchen. This space, measuring 34-by-35 square feet, was left virtually untouched, with the exception of fresh paint and the kitchen space. The main floor also houses an office, as well as a laundry and mudroom space.
The 19th-century church was sold to its current owner in 2014 for $74,538 after the church’s congregation decided to merge with another nearby Presbyterian church. The 1.1 acre property is being sold by its current owner, local architect Ralph L. Finelli, who renovated the three-bedroom, three-bathroom home.
Will the new owner need to maintain these graves?
If you’re not looking to take on the pressure of maintaining these historic graves, don’t worry. An organization known as the Mount Amwell Project entered an agreement with the seller to maintain the cemetery, said Kevin McPheeters, a realtor with Callaway Henderson Sotheby’s International Realty who is managing the listing. The organization will tend to the monuments and stones within the cemetery, while the new owner will be responsible for mowing the lawn.
The second floor features the home’s primary suite and its spa-style bathroom. On the third floor, a loft area leads to two additional bedrooms and a third bathroom.
The current owner also added a three-zone heating and cooling system, a new septic system and a high efficiency water heater.
Maddie McGay is the real estate reporter for NorthJersey.com and The Record, covering all things worth celebrating about living in North Jersey. Find her on Instagram @maddiemcgay, on X @maddiemcgayy, and sign up for her North Jersey Living newsletter. Do you have a tip, trend or terrific house she should know about? Email her at [email protected].
This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: A 19th-century NJ church comes with a cemetery and could be your home
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