Luggate labour of love transforms old church

Anthony Marino has been mistaken for a minister, almost buried under a hay bale-sized bird's nest and literally smoked out of his latest handyman project, but he and wife Liz say the hazards and humours of transforming Luggate's former Presbyterian church into their home are all worth it.

The former Albert Towncouple took "a bit of a gamble" and bought St David's Church in Luggate from the Upper Clutha Presbyterian Church parish last June.

"We always used to have visions of owning it ... it was kind of like a fantasy," Mr Marino said.

"We'd driven past it a million times and loved it but we'd never been inside so we just trusted our judgement and it was even better probably then we expected. We walked in and it was like 'Wow'," Mrs Marino added.

"It was just pristine, everything had just been so well kept."

"Apart from the 80 years' of birds' nests," Mr Marino joked.

During the renovations which began last month, a bird's nest "the size of a hay bale" had tumbled out when Mr Marino removed a ceiling panel, showering him with birds, eggs and straw.

They had also been amused by the tourists who had stopped for impromptu picnics on the lawn or to take photographs of the church, unaware it was now a private home. One Japanese woman had asked Mr Marino, "Are you a preacher?"

The couple have been living in their house bus next to the church since October and will shift into their new home in about a month.

Mr Marino, a former hotel maintenance manager and "jack of all trades", is carrying out all the renovations himself, which have so far involved insulation work and installing a new bathroom, laundry and kitchen. Mrs Marino helps out when she has time off from her job as a dressmaker.

Past parishioners and admirers of the church, which was built in Hindon in 1927 before being moved to Luggate in 1931, were assured the exterior would remain untouched.

"It will always look like this," Mr Marino said. "It's got to still look like a church, not a church converted into a home ... if you do too much to it, it loses its character."

The couple has sold some of the pews to local residents, but kept four, along with other features such as the pulpit and organ, which would be incorporated into the living space.

The church's long-serving potbelly-style fire would also be retained purely for aesthetic purposes after a test of its heating capabilities filled the church with smoke and confirmed the need for a more modern logburner.

While many Luggate locals had suggested the Marinos turn the church into a dairy or something similar, they had no immediate plans for a commercial project at the site.

"We just love it so much that we want to live in it for a while," Mrs Marino said.