We always hear about vehicles being transformed into houses, but have you ever seen a bank turned into a home? Cathy Calhoun of Spring City, Pennsylvania did exactly just that.
After 24 years of renovations worth about $52,000, Cathy transformed the old National Bank of Spring City into her own 5,200 square feet luxurious home. She knew the building by heart because her first job was being a teller there in 1972 and she was employed for a total of 10 years.
When she purchased the property which was then already closed for business, Cathy knew it would be a challenge to renovate it, but she was prepared. In fact, she already had ideas on what to do in certain parts of the building.
The old bank is now a beautiful living space with three bedrooms and three baths. Many of its antique fixtures and spaces were kept and reimagined. One of the many things she kept was the original Seth Thomas street clock.
When it was put back to its original place at the front of the building, people in town were quite overjoyed, as they could reminisce how they used to look at the clock to know the time of the day back then.
Cathy instantly knew that the vault would be a bar.
If there was something that Cathy exactly knew what to do with, it would have to be the main vault. She already knew she wanted to make it into a bar, and she did quite amazingly. She removed a wall of safe deposit boxes to free up more space for seating but left the other wall of boxes intact.
She was able to open all safety deposit boxes except for 222 without keys. Some of the items she found inside such as old bankbooks, old bills, and coins as well as stock certificates were left on display as memorabilia.
Cathy was quite successful in transforming the other areas of the bank as well.
The other areas in the building were also re-purposed. An example would be the old coupon room which was made into an elegant powder room. It was definitely transformed beautifully.
She removed the dropped ceiling and restored the lobby’s incredible 40-foot height. She also repaired the original coffers and skylight, giving the place more natural and warm lighting.
To make the ceiling even more special, she hired a painter to replicate the beautiful and colorful Pennsylvanian sky at sunset. The result was truly magical.
People would knock on her door and inquire about banking services. Cathy would jokingly tell them:
“I always tell them, ‘deposits only.”
What used to be a boardroom is now an exquisite boudoir.
Cathy’s favorite part of her bank-turned-home is the boudoir. It used to be the bank’s boardroom which she turned into her own private room with a bed, fireplace, wide-screen TV, jacuzzi, and bathroom.
If there was one place she dreaded going to when she worked for the bank, that would be the old basement vault. There was not much ventilation there, so she eventually decided to turn it into a sauna with a door from the original vault.
Overall, the home Cathy built from an old bank building is filled with elegance, luxury, and creativity. What used to be a very industrial-looking establishment is now a warm and cozy home.
Find out more about the incredible renovations Cathy made by watching the video below!
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