YARMOUTH – Doug Bean says his home — a local landmark known as “the yellow church” — was his reaction to a midlife crisis.

Some guys buy a sports car, or take up guitar, or go on a trip to Las Vegas.

Additional Photos

This is the view looking down from a second-floor balcony into the main living area of the home. The ceiling is about 25 feet high; the alcove is where the altar once stood. Gregory Rec/Staff Photographer

Doug and Denise Bean’s home on West Elm Street in Yarmouth is a converted church. Gregory Rec/Staff Photographer

High ceilings and arched windows help this home in Yarmouth maintain a link to its past as a church. Gregory Rec/Staff Photographer

The Beans renovated the kitchen using lots of beautifully stained wood. Gregory Rec/Staff Photographer

A stained-glass window in the church-turned-home catches the afternoon sunlight. Gregory Rec/Staff Photographer

This graceful arched window looks out over the living space. Gregory Rec/Staff Photographer

A sign – though for another church – fits right in with the decor. Gregory Rec/Staff Photographer

But Bean, who works in the investment business, bought a church.

Bean was living in Falmouth with his family a few years ago when he took a bike ride through Yarmouth village with a friend. He wasn’t looking for a new home, but when he saw the church — which had already been converted into a home — it sparked his interest.

“My friend said ‘I know the owner and he’s putting it on the market Monday,’ ” recalled Bean. “So I called the guy and came to take a look at it.”

Talk about a sign from above.

Bean was immediately drawn to the uniqueness of the home, and at 6 feet, 6 inches tall, he loved the idea of having plenty of head room. The home’s main living/dining area shows the original height of the church interior, with a 25-foot ceiling. It’s covered with beadboard now, but the church shape of the ceiling is undeniable.

The structure, built in 1898 as a Methodist church, had been vacant and boarded up for many years until it was converted to a home about 10 years ago. Since Bean and his wife, Denise, moved in more than three years ago they’ve made major renovations to the home — to the kitchen and living room especially.

They’ve put in wood floors, put up a beadboard ceiling in the main living area, and replaced many nondescript interior doors with historic doors. The kitchen has been completely redone. The kitchen and living area both have sort of a Mission feel, with lots of stained woodwork and wood floors.

While about half the original structure has been left with high church ceilings, the other half has a second floor that is taken up mostly by a massive room that serves as a gym, guest room and activity room. From that room, there are two windows and two doors that open up to view the living area.

The windows — tear-drop shaped — and the doors are dark wood and were originally in an old convent in southern Maine, the Beans said. The doors open up to a wrought-iron balcony over the living area, which the Beans had custom-made.

There are two giant ceiling fans in the main living area, to help circulate both hot and cold air. The Beans have put in a new propane heating system, and say they probably pay less to heat this home than their former, traditional 1970s-vintage home in Falmouth.

Off the living area is a long hallway that leads to bedrooms and a study, still being worked on.

Outside, they Beans added a covering to the side entrance area, and a covered porch off the back of the kitchen. They did this because after moving in, they noticed that when they got a major snowfall the snow would slide off the steep church roof and make both of those entrances impossible to use.

One factor of living in this home is that the Beans don’t have to try too hard to explain to people where they live.

“If we say the yellow church on West Elm, people know exactly what we’re talking about,” said Denise Bean.

The Beans have also had people come to their door asking for tours, or wanting to know when church services will be.

One night, when Doug Bean was watching the Red Sox on TV, he heard a man outside raving about the church and its charming look. He went out and asked the man if he could help him and the man wanted to see inside.

“I told him I couldn’t do it that night, because the Red Sox were on,” said Bean. “Living here would not be everyone’s cup of tea.”

Staff Writer Ray Routhier can be contacted at 791-6454 or at:

rrouthier@pressherald.com

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