It was during their daughter’s third birthday party in the Māpua Old Church that Peter Renshaw and his wife Jen Currie first contemplated turning it into their home.
They weren’t that serious though – it was a dream they never thought could become a reality.
“We were walking around, planning it and seeing what we could do,” Peter remembers.
When a few months later the 1928 church beside Aranui Park was put up for sale by tender, they started thinking about it again - but still didn’t think it was realistically within reach.
They would have kicked themselves if they didn’t at least try, so right on the tender deadline, they put in an offer. By the end of the day, they were the surprised new owners of a piece of Māpua’s history.
“We were thrilled and shocked,” he says.
Peter is pretty sure they won the tender because they were the only bidders who did not plan to demolish the building and develop the 1012 square metre section.
Jen was on tour around the country with the Fringe Festival for a play she had written, produced and then starred in, when Peter called to say he was putting in a last-minute tender. Later that day, he called again to say they had won.
“It all felt like it was meant to be,” she says.
Since then, there has been the pressure of selling their house, completing due diligence, and ensuring they could change the building’s use from religious to residential.
Now the hard work begins, with the family of three moving onto the site next week and slowly turning the building into a home. While the church has had additions over the decades, the original interior, which later became the hall, remains intact with its braced ceiling, wainscotting on the walls and matai floor.
“It’s just so nice it’s not being demolished,” Jen says.
Tradespeople will be used where necessary, but Peter and Jen plan to do as much of the renovation themselves, starting with insulation in the rear rooms so they are liveable. He says it is likely to be a work in progress for quite a long time.
Where possible, they want to preserve features of the church, including the wooden interior, and Peter was quick to buy the pews when he saw them for sale on Facebook.
Jen says many people in the community have a connection with the building, not just as a church.
“A lot of people have such good memories with Kidz ‘n’ Koffee. It’s a place with a story.”
