This Zillow Gone Wild church-turned-mansion breathes new life into former gathering space

CINCINNATI — An 1800s church-turned-mansion featured on Zillow Gone Wild is up for sale in Cincinnati.

The page, which is dedicated to highlighting unique Zillow properties across the country, highlighted the West End home at 1835 Baymiller St.

The 9,756-square-foot building has been renovated to include three separate living spaces, five bedrooms and five full bathrooms, according to its Zillow listing. The original asking price was approximately $1.65 million but the price recently dropped to $1.49 million.

The building was owned by the Allegheny West Conference of Seventh-day Adventists from 1970 to 2017, according to the Hamilton County auditor's website. Current owner Abdiel Acevedo-Santiago bought the space to restore it in 2021.

"It's really awesome to be able to save these buildings rather than tear them down," Acevedo-Santiago, a Xavier University grad, said.

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Acevedo-Santiago began renovations on the church during the pandemic and even got his own contractors license to see his vision through. He currently lives in the property's upstairs area – which houses an organ, a front-facing stained glass window, original hardwood floors and a grand piano – and uses the two downstairs units as short-term rentals and Airbnbs.

Details of the building's former life can be seen throughout the property. Cellar rooms with arched entryways still house coal. Ceiling art, which would need some restoring, is tucked away beneath tile. Acevedo-Santiago has a photo of the old baptismal pool, which has been traded in for an open-concept downstairs unit.

"Everybody wants to know what's in here," he said of the property. "I think the building was built to be shared, and it's nice that we have a platform that we can do that."

The church was originally built in 1866 and was first called the York Street Methodist Episcopal Church, per the owner. The Cincinnati Daily Star printed a bulletin for it in 1878.

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There have been five fires in the church, Acevedo-Santiago said. One basement fire in 1941 happened during a church service. An article in the Cincinnati Enquirer, part of the USA TODAY Network, said firefighters "worked so quietly" to put out the fire that the service continued uninterrupted.

Is it a haunted house?

The two questions Acevedo-Santiago said he gets most often about the property are: "What is the price of gas and electric" ($500 per month) and "Is it haunted?"

An Enquirer article says a Sunday school teacher died at the "York Street Methodist Church" from heart disease in 1928. However, there is also a York Street United Methodist Church at 816 York St., which was first reported on in 1968. It's unclear which one the article was referring to.

Acevedo-Santiago said he's never seen or felt any paranormal presences, and that the building "has a really good spirit to it."

The property is considered single-family dwelling. New owners could operate it as short-term rentals or make the whole church their full-time home. Acevedo-Santiago, who lived around the corner on Dayton Street before moving into the church's upper level, said the renovation was a "labor of love."

"I just always loved Dayton Street and I knew that I wanted to be in this neighborhood," he said. "This whole Zillow Gone Wild situation is really funny because people are like, 'Wait, this is in Cincinnati!?' And it makes me a little bit sad because there's so much that Cincinnati has to offer."

Contributing: Camille Fine, USA TODAY