What was once a church in Rumford that holds more than a century of the town’s history is for sale for $150,000.
Built in 1902, the former Rumford Falls First Baptist Church on Washington Street has two bedrooms, three bathrooms and offers more than 4,400 square feet of living space on .21 acres, according to the online listing.
While the main floor of the church holds large sanctuary spaces, the building’s basement holds a kitchen, shower stalls and an indoor basketball court, which may have hosted a youth basketball team years ago, said Bryce Hamilton of Coldwell Banker Realty, the listing agent for the property.
“I’ve handled some unique buildings in my career, and this is the only one I’ve had with a basketball court in the basement,” Hamilton said.
The property was featured on the Cheap Old Houses Instagram account earlier this week, which boasts nearly three million followers and often highlights grand historic buildings for sale across the country.
With an asking price of $150,000, the former church falls slightly below the median home price in Rumford, which now sits at nearly $170,000, according to Zillow. Like elsewhere in Maine, average home values in the town of fewer than 6,000 people have doubled in recent years.
In September 2019, the average home in Rumford cost roughly $85,500 compared with more than $169,400 last month, data from Zillow show.
The church was renamed a few times before being sold to a private owner a few years ago. Hamilton said he has already received inquiries about the property from both local and out-of-state prospective buyers in the few days it has been on the market.
A fire in the early 1920s damaged portions of the building that then had to be rebuilt, Hamilton said.
While it hasn’t been a place of worship in recent years, many of the church’s original features, such as the pipe organ, stained glass windows and baptismal font under the original hardwood floors still remain. Five of the eight stained glass windows are dedicated to people who were prominent when the church was founded, such as the parish’s first deacon and pastor, Hamilton said.
While the building could easily be reopened as a church of some kind, Hamilton said it may become housing, as it’s in a residential zone and “Rumford, like any other town in the state, has a need for housing.”
“If I had my druthers, I would love to see some kind of arts or events center there,” Hamilton said. “The acoustics in the sanctuary are quite good, so it would lend itself to being a small concert hall.”
Regardless of what the future buyer chooses to do with the church, Hamilton said he hopes they don’t gut the building or demolish it altogether.
“It’s a piece of the history of the neighborhood and a unique property,” Hamilton said.
