9 great interior design tips from this converted church home

There can’t be many people who would be excited by a for sale sign outside an enormous neglected church. Dean Keyworth and his husband Gavin Hilton saw the decommissioned church and decided it would make the perfect renovation project. They were looking for a second home near the coast and the church was situated in a quiet village, almost as far north as you can go without crossing the border into Scotland. That was 14 years ago and unfortunately things didn’t go to plan. Their offer was outbid and Dean and Gavin continued their search. 

In 2018, the pair discovered the church was back up for sale again and that it had been barely touched in the interim. ‘This time I wasn’t going to let it get past me,’ says Dean and he set about making plans and finding out what was possible given that the former church was a Grade II-listed building, built in 1821.