The other side: Couple transforms Powell church into home

Posted 10/20/22

During the month David Bryan and Shelly Graham were evacuated from their home as fire ravaged their neighborhood in the Santa Cruz Mountains of California, they started searching for a new …

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The other side: Couple transforms Powell church into home

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During the month David Bryan and Shelly Graham were evacuated from their home as fire ravaged their neighborhood in the Santa Cruz Mountains of California, they started searching for a new hometown.

They were locked down in a hotel room watching heat signature reporting. They could see neighboring homes going up in flames while enduring pandemic protocols and wondering if their house would be the next to burn. 

When the mandatory evacuation was finally lifted, they returned to their neighborhood to find many burned out homes with only chimneys left standing. But their house was unexplainably untouched other than smoke and ash damage. They didn’t want to be there when the next shoe dropped.

“There’s so much more that needs to burn,” Graham said. “The writing was on the wall.”

They had a lot of time on their hands during the lockdown and started taking stock of their lives.

“We realized we’re both getting older and California is not a great place to retire, among other things. So we started looking for more spacious, less busy, down to earth neighborhoods,” Graham said.

“Where we lived, was beautiful. If I wanted to go into the woods, I walked out my front door. But if I wanted to do anything else, I got in the car,” Bryan said. “I was like, I want to be able to walk to the grocery store. I want to be able to walk to the hardware store or walk to the coffee shop.”

They eventually found Powell and a real estate listing for the old Immanuel Lutheran Church on the northeast corner of Fifth and Bent streets, which had been transformed into a home by Don and Mary Thomas. They immediately fell in love.

You might ask, what would a couple and their cats want with 5,500 square-feet of living space? Graham is a licensed clinical psychologist and yoga instructor. Bryan is a retired educator who is now a full-time broadcaster with a podcast called “Curiosity Invited.” They both needed professional offices. Graham had a dream of building a yoga studio and Bryan wanted a large woodworking shop and a separate man cave/studio.

The former church had room for everything they wanted, plus enough room for a living space for the many family and friends who would want to visit and share in the natural wonders of the Big Horn Basin. They also have aging parents who may need more care in the future.

They toured the home and were impressed with the quality transformation the Thomases had completed and quickly snapped up the property.

They soon realized they had found the friendly neighborhood on a quiet street close to mom and pop shops within walking distance of their dreams. They felt welcome.

“We found we live near some people who wear their hearts on their sleeves,” Graham said. “They’re beautiful. They’ve totally welcomed us.”

It was a big change from the decades spent in California barely knowing the folks living right next door.

“Here, I know my neighbors. My neighbors are nice people,” Bryan said.

They made friends with several folks around town, including a master gardener with helpful hints, the folks at Homesteader Roots willing to help plant a new tree and vendors at local farmers’ markets. 

They soon turned their attention to making their new house a home. The spacious open-concept living room and kitchen (formerly the sanctuary) was perfect, they said. The only change required was to add a few new light fixtures. It required renting scaffolding to reach the towering ceilings.

“I was up there thinking, what am I doing?” Bryan said.

They left a brass cross on the large exposed timbers and added some favorite art, including Mexican Day of the Dead sculptures, carousel horses and Asian masks and prints. Several plants soak up the light from huge picture windows.

The problem was dividing up what they called “the other side.” They decided to split the basement, transforming it into a large yoga studio and a broadcast studio. Graham’s studio is simple and elegant while Bryan’s “man cave” is eclectic, featuring rodeo art and a large computer center.

Graham said she doesn’t know if there’s a big calling for yoga in Powell, but there was only one way to find out.

“First you have to build the temple and then you see if people will come,” Graham said. “I just put up a website and one day I’ll be standing down there waiting to see if anybody shows up.”

She calls her venture Freedom Yoga. They installed a new floating wood floor, for comfort, and added Asian art and sculptures. The space is well lit and wide open — large enough for a dozen people to stretch out without feeling cramped.

Next they moved to the thousands of square feet on the main floor. There was a huge kitchen and a handicap ramp that weren’t needed. They kept a small portion of the kitchen — still larger than most apartment kitchens — and removed the ramp. The extra room allowed them to build a large guest bedroom and an indoor workshop.

Graham’s psychology office, tastefully appointed with comfortable furniture, plants and accent rugs, has its own private entrance. She is looking into the idea of offering some therapy groups. With the available space, the groups won’t necessarily need to be limited in size. Even with all the changes, the “other side” still has a large area bigger than some houses surrounding the former place of worship.

They recently painted the exterior “storm blue” and removed the large cross on the west side. In doing so, they spoke with folks who knew the building as a church. 

“We wanted to be respectful of what came before and, at the same time, move it to the next thing,” Graham said.

“I love the idea that people worshipped here for so long,” she said. “We are now the stewards of this building. And that feels like an honor. We’re just trying to learn how to do right by that.”

Bryan added, “And we want to make sure that this place has a life after us.”

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