Refurbishing old homes is pretty standard in the real estate business now, but sometimes history can get glossed over in the process. To combat that, adaptive reuse projects have been growing in popularity. Considered a compromise between total demolition and historic preservation, adaptive reuse takes a building and uses it for something it wasn’t originally intended for. Like the United Methodist Church in Narbeth, Philadelphia that Main Line reBuild turned into a contemporary condominium complex named Elm Hall.
Originally built in 1929, the place of worship had fallen into disrepair in recent years, causing it to be sold in 2013. When the bids rolled in, Main Line reBuild’s proposal was chosen because it was one of the only ideas that didn’t involve destroying the church—which would have been sacrilegious to many in the small community.
