F
or some time, Emma had been searching for a renovation project when in 2019 she came across a former church officer’s house in Glasgow’s Shawlands. “I was after something unique,” she recalls. “I had looked at an old manse on Mull and a former Forestry Commission cottage near Perth, but I was outbid on both. I was rather disillusioned when I looked on the Church of Scotland property website and saw this.” With a busy work schedule and no time to view in the week before Christmas, Emma called on her parents to step in and do the viewing for her. “They said it’s a total wreck, you’ll love it! And I did.”
Emma took ownership in February 2020 and by this point had given up her role as an architect in a city centre practice. “I really wanted to specialise as a conservation architect, and I was offered a job as a planning officer in Helensburgh. The role was part-time which I thought would allow me to renovate the house and keep earning. However, within a month they’d offered me a full-time job.” What was supposed to be a six-month
renovation ended up taking 18 months. “Even without the change in my working circumstances and the pandemic, with a property like this there’s never a job you do that you think should only take a day. I think I spent six months sanding woodwork!” The trade-off however was dealing with the
property’s twists and quirks. “I think that’s what attracted me; it’s so unusual and also the fact that it’s a main door in the heart of Shawlands with a private courtyard.” The property is indeed a one-off with original sash and case windows to the front which mirror the facade of the church next door. At the rear the sandstone gives way to white glazed brick in which nestles a narrow
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www.sbhonline.co.uk
With a busy work schedule, Emma called on her parents to step in and do the viewing; “They said it’s a total wreck, you’ll love it! And I did”
turret window overlooking the quirky enclosed courtyard.
Built in 1912, the B-listed property was the last of the church accommodation to be built, as Emma explains: “The church hall at the back came first, then the tenement, then the main church building, and then the church officer’s house. It’s a funny little infill.” The house itself is three storeys. On the
ground floor there’s a sitting room which runs the length of the building, in the basement is a WC, kitchen with access to the courtyard, and upstairs are two bedrooms and a bathroom. When Emma moved in, the property was connected to the church by a door halfway up the stairs. “There’s a notched step on the stairs and that’s where the door used to be. The stopcock for the church was also in this property and we had to relocate that as well.” Starting a renovation during Covid also proved challenging. “My first idea was to work from top to bottom, but I quickly realised the kitchen was going to be the biggest job.” Emma’s dad started ripping out the kitchen but as it was during lockdown, the tips weren’t open to get rid of the rubbish. Their solution was to fill the rubble bags, put them in her Land Rover and trailer, drive over to her parents and store the bags in their garden. When lockdown lifted, all these bags had to go back in the Land Rover and be ferried to the tip.
HIGH POINT
“Having my whole family here working with me and sitting down after we’d finished in the courtyard with fish, chips and champagne to celebrate. I also love falling asleep in the back bedroom with the stained-glass reflections from the church – it’s special.”
may/june 2022
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