By E.B. Solomont

Nik Vekic and Quinn Marquardt immediately saw potential when they first toured a house dating back to around 1837 in Gilboa, N.Y. The Greek Revival-style structure was a church that had been partially converted to a private residence by a prior owner.

By 2023, the property had been left vacant for 20 years and lacked basic plumbing and electricity. "It was really tragic to see such a beautiful building wasting away," Vekic says.

Vekic and Marquardt, who married in 2018, paid $425,000 for the property in 2023. The pair are founders of ICDT Studio, a design-build firm in the Catskills.

Divine design

"Seeing a church like this and its grandeur was inspiring," Vekic says.

Vekic, 46, and Marquardt, 38, tapped local craft and tradesmen to undertake a multiyear renovation of the residence. Coincidentally, one worker shared that his grandparents had gotten married in the church back in the day. "It was really cool to imagine people getting married in the middle of our great room," Vekic says.

The couple repurposed materials in the house where they could. When they found unused hemlock beams in the basement, they hired a local woodworker to make them a custom, 15-foot dining table. They also used the wood on the stairs leading up to the library and to line the walls of a wine room beneath the library.

Other parts of the house are brand new. The kitchen has panel-ready appliances and a 40-inch AGA stove.

The biggest lift came when the couple added five staircases throughout the property, requiring extensive structural changes. "We were punching holes through the floor to add new stairs," Vekic says.

They also opened up the great room, which had a mishmash of windows and doors.

The renovation took about 2 1/2 years. Vekic and Marquardt declined to say how much it cost. "We tried to get what was appropriate for the building and also was the most beautiful, and what would hold up best over time," Marquardt said.

Can't-miss features

There is a library in the church's bell tower, with a ladder stretching to the top of custom bookshelves. "It is a fun way of experiencing the house," Marquardt says. "As a book lover, why not?"

In the stairwell under the library is a 600-bottle wine room.

Reason for selling?

Since finishing the house last year, Vekic and Marquardt have split their time between Gilboa and their home in Roxbury, N.Y. Though they love it, they always planned to sell the church property.

What they'll miss

Marquardt says he will miss watching the sun set behind the mountains or mist roll over the vista. "It is so dramatic and peaceful," he says.

What they won't miss

The pair won't miss the "constant rumination" over how to keep improving the home. "A designer's mind never turns off," says Vekic. "You see a blank wall and wonder how it could be better."

Market snapshot

In the Hudson Valley and Catskill region, the luxury market is fueled by second- and third-home buyers, said listing agent Annabel Taylor of Four Seasons Sotheby's International Realty.

The median home sale price in Gilboa was $499,000 in January 2026, up 34.29% year over year, according to Realtor.com. ( News Corp, owner of The Wall Street Journal, also operates Realtor.com.) The luxury market looks vastly different, however. The most common price point is between $2 million and $3 million, Taylor says.

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

March 13, 2026 15:00 ET (19:00 GMT)

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