Melbourne man Campbell Michell bought his own slice of rural church life for just $26,000.
"The opportunity came up … I met [my now wife] Caroline about halfway through, and we did the restoration together.Caroline and Campbell Michell learned from online videos how to restore the old church.Real Estate Institute of Australia president Hayden Groves said more people were buying and converting old churches into private homes in regional Australia in recent years.
"It's so important to see these beautiful regional churches being repurposed into housing. It's really great for those communities."Restoring places of worship as dwellings not only provides people with a more affordable way to own their own home, but also preserves historical sites that were once the spiritual hubs of small towns.