“My family owned an acreage in Webster County east of Knierim, but there hadn’t been a house here for decades,” Potratz said.

One day when Potratz was driving around the area, she noticed the Calvary Presbyterian Church and got a big idea. The church, which was about one mile north of her family’s acreage, had closed permanently in April 2010 and had stood vacant for a few years. Would it be possible to move the church to her family’s acreage?

After making some calls and assessing the options, Potratz secured permission to acquire the church building. “It was a big decision, and I went back and forth sometimes about whether this was the right move,” Potratz said.

Everything worked out, however, and the building moving crew arrived on a cold, blustery day in 2014. The winds were brutal and there was snow on the ground, but the church survived the move with no damage, said Potratz, who noted it cost about $16,000 to move the building and set it on a basement. “The church was well built,” she said.

-Messenger photo by Darcy Dougherty Maulsby
A modern kitchen fills the arched area that once housed the altar and pulpit of the church.

This church had replaced an earlier Calvary Presbyterian Church in the area. The original church was dedicated in 1898, but it burned down after being struck by lightning in 1936.

Its replacement, which would become the Potratz family’s home, was dedicated in 1938.

It took a few years to transform the church into a house. There were already some occupants living in the walls, including snakes and mice that had to be removed, said Potratz, whose family moved into the home in the summer of 2016.

“While we replaced the old wiring, added drywall and insulation and opened up the belltower, we tried to keep everything else much as it was,” said Potratz, who lives in the home with her husband, Joe, and their children.

A modern kitchen fills the arched area that once housed the altar and pulpit. Potratz bought a stained-glass window that came out of a church in Lehigh to add color and light near the ceiling. She also added cabinets that used to be in her grandmother’s kitchen.

-Messenger photo by Darcy Dougherty Maulsby
The family's daughter, Kiley Norine, 9, enjoys drawing and creating art in this basement play area, which was made with some of the materials salvaged from the Calvary Presbyterian Church.

The former sanctuary provides ample room for a dining area, complete with a large hutch that used to belong to Potratz’s grandmother. Potratz painted this elegant furniture with white chalk paint and uses it to display some of the dishes that were once used in Calvary’s church basement/kitchen area.

The other side of the sanctuary includes a living room area, complete with a small desk that Potratz painted blue. The desk previously stood in the pastor’s study at the church for decades.

Potratz also kept the podium that held the church’s guest book. She uses this piece to display a Bible from the church, a rubber stamp with the words “Calvary Presbyterian Church, Barnum, Iowa,” and a spiral-bound book printed by the church’s congregation to document the history of the church.

A former Sunday school classroom off to the side of the former altar has been transformed into a bathroom and laundry area. Long-handled church candle lighters and small sets of musical pipes that were used in Calvary Presbyterian Church accent the walls near this area.

The home also includes a nursery in an upstairs area, along with a master bedroom and bathroom on the main level, behind the former sanctuary.

-Messenger photo by Darcy Dougherty Maulsby
This bench graces the entry of the Potratz's church-turned-farmhouse.

A finished basement with two bedrooms, a living area and a bathroom completes the home, which includes new, custom arched windows and framed copies of the church’s original blueprints, which graces the walls above the basement staircase.

Potratz’s advice for tackling a big project? “Budget more than you think, and realize it will probably take a lot longer than you think.” The results are worth it, though, she added. “I love the vaulted ceilings and big, open spaces. It still feels cozy and homey.”

-Messenger photo by Darcy Dougherty Maulsby
The former sanctuary provides ample room for a dining area, complete with a large hutch that used to belong to Katie Potratz’s grandmother.

-Messenger photo by Darcy Dougherty Maulsby
This graceful arched window, a reminder that the home was once a church, provides natural light to the bedroom.

-Messenger photo by Darcy Dougherty Maulsby
The Potratz's church-turned-farmhouse features an upstairs nursery.

-Messenger photo by Darcy Dougherty Maulsby
This family living area is part of a finished basement that also includes two bedrooms and a bathroom. It took a few years to transform this former church into a house, but now Katie Potratz says it feels "cozy and homey."