Sanctuary! Former DC Church Transformed Into Condos

Washington, D.C.—The Sanctuary, a church-to-condo conversion at 819 D Street NE in the Stanton Park neighborhood of Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., is nearing completion. The Rubin Group and Regua have undertaken an 18-month restoration and transformation of a 19th-century Gothic Revival church building into a 30-unit multifamily property.

After five decades on Capitol Hill, the Way of the Cross Church of Christ decided to build a larger campus in Capitol Heights, Md. To finance its expansion, the church tapped the companies to transform its existing church. Bonstra Haresign Architects is the architect for the renovations; Potomac Construction Group is the general contractor.

The church at 9th and D Streets was built in 1897 by the Disciples of Christ and called the Ninth Street Christian Church. Its Gothic Revival style was popular with Protestant churches of that era. In 1915, the church added a large fellowship hall in the same style, and later acquired two adjoining townhouses.

The hallmark of the conversion effort was the hand restoration of the stained- and leaded-glass windows, the building’s defining feature. Pennsylvania craftsmen worked thousands of hours restoring every single stained glass panel to its original condition.

Twenty-six of the Sanctuary’s 30 units are in the original church building, ranging in size from one-bedroom to two-bedroom units with dens. Interior finishes were curated to complement the building’s exterior and pay homage to the early history of the structure. Exposed brick walls and cast-iron columns, towering church windows with restored original stained glass panels, and high ceilings characterize many of The Sanctuary’s residences.

The project also includes two adjacent renovated townhomes. Each has a terrace-level one-bedroom unit along with a three-bedroom, two-and-a-half-bath unit with a private entrance, like that of a classic Capitol Hill row house.