$595K Converted Vashon Church Keeps the Cathedral Ceilings

Vaulted ceilings are an understatement. Try the country version of cathedral ceilings. Cathedral is right because this house was a house of God from 1923 until about 1975. Since then it has been a house for just a few (2 bedrooms and 1 bath) instead of a congregation. But, the ceilings are tall, the steeple is taller, and there's even a covered porch for protecting parishioners from the rain. The church is on the west side of Vashon, with views of the Olympics, on a half acre of land. The property's asking price is $595,000, which buys you a memorable home. About those carven heads. The interior is a great open space, unique to what you get in a church. What's also unique is a double row of carved heads jutting out from the mezzanine. Very Nordic, or is it an homage to the original Native art, or both? The fifteen or so heads could be anything with a long nose, gaping mouth, and eyes; so maybe they are different species of salmon. The one with the hooked mouth certainly looks like a Chinook. The first floor has an enormous bedroom, with the same tall ceilings, and closets that must take a ladder to reach their top shelves. They've got space and they don't get in its way. There's only one bathroom, and it has the same wooden head motif. They used them as shelf supports, but put in coat hooks so the art didn't break under heavy towels or coats, evidently. The rest of the bathroom has rich wood and tile work, with fixtures that look like a nod to the first church. The upper floor have long spaces open to the first floor. Each space could fit a different function, separate but connected. Just keep the noise down, because the acoustics may have been designed to carry a choir's voices.
· 16700 McIntyre Rd SW, Vashon [Estately]
Written by Tom Trimbath