Church for Sale
Letting go gently, and what comes next...
I’ve decided to sell the church in Queenstown.
It’s a strange and tender thing to write. This space has been a vessel for so much. Recently it was charged up with good vibes as it saw conversations that stretched long into the night after the Unconformity, small gatherings that glowed with quiet joy, bees nesting above the stained glass cross, and the echoes of music, laughter, and imagination. It has been my experiment, my refuge, and a dream in progress.
But lately, I’ve felt a shift. It arrived softly but won’t be ignored. My heart is calling for a different kind of stability now. I want to create a home for my son and myself, to build something rooted and steady, while freeing this space for someone else’s dream to take hold.
Queenstown is humming with possibility. There’s a creative, nature-connected pulse rising again, with Diverge Sky Runs, the new Tyndall Ranges walk, the ever-evolving Unconformity.
What I love most about this place is its contrasts. The famous moonscape that instantly comes to mind hills hold an austere beauty that changes with the light. And if you drive just ten minutes along Mt Dukes Road, you’ll find yourself surrounded by the most astonishing rainforest. Dense, dripping, and alive.
Kelly Basin is one of my favourite walks; It ends at a ghost town, showing how quickly the landscape can transform.
Selling the church isn’t a goodbye to the West. It’s an opening for both the next custodian of those remarkable buildings, and for me. I’ll continue to be part of Queenstown’s story in other ways. I’ve fallen in love with its edges and its depths, and I don’t think I can ever really leave the place.
More details will come as I move through this next chapter, but for now I’m simply honouring this moment of change. I’m feeling grateful, and full of quiet excitement for what’s to come.
Since I bought the church in 2021, it’s quietly gathered its own history of happenings:
-A concert by the Queenie Choir
-A looooong country-and-western lunch (complete with pony rides, whip cracking, and a performance by singer Jean Stafford. Stafford is Australia’s most awarded female country artist, with over 100 accolades and international number-one hits.
-A gory film set for Bay of Fires (Season 2, Episode 2 — check it out!)
-A creative rehearsal space during Unconformity Festival
-An “after-after”party gathering space for festival friends
-A home for bees, who auspiciously built their hive above the stained-glass cross until a kind apiarist re-hived them in Strahan
-A drop-in spot for friends passing through Queenstown
-A backdrop for Ivi Dodd’s photography in Makers of Lutruwita
-A quiet space for meeting for interviews for my Gilded Memories charm necklace project
It’s a place that keeps finding new ways to be alive. It’s a blank canvas with so much potential.
I’ve spent time researching the history. If you are interested, please email:
concretechurchqueenstowntas@gmail.com
and I’ll send you the listing when it goes live.
Check it out on:
This isn’t goodbye to the West Coast, but a new chapter unfolding <3
