With the free-floating birch pod defining the space, and the massive Venetian chandelier accentuating the volume, the great room is, indeed, great. The Suarezes wanted the living area to be a place where the family could be occupied individually while still together. Bonnie works in the kitchen while Santiago (seated on an IKEA couch borrowed from one of their sons until they find something else) works on the computer. Photo 20 of 24 in 12 Churches That Have Been Turned Into Heavenly Homes from At Home in a Modern Church

12 Churches That Have Been Turned Into Heavenly Homes

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For Santiago and Bonnie Suarez, the question was, in carving out space within the space, "how much to let what we were doing show on the outside." In keeping with the architects’ aesthetic principles, the answer was, as little as possible: to let the exterior walls of the church read as they had been written more than 150 years ago.