New life for old structures

Cynthia Weston enjoys a unique living room setting in her Lake Mills home. Photo courtesy of Cynthia Weston

Laughing in church might be considered taboo, but Cynthia Weston does it all the time.

The interior designer, as it turns out, has a good excuse. Her signature project is her home, a former Methodist church in Lake Mills.

Weston turned an altar area into a second living room, which is bathed in the shifting swaths of color created by 15-foot, stained-glass windows. She and her husband, Rex, sleep in the Sunday school classrooms, do laundry in the old boys’ bathroom and eat breakfast in a nook built within a four-story bell tower.

Weston, who runs Cynthia Weston Interior Design in Lake Mills, said converting the house of worship into a home is a perfect example of her passion for adaptive reuse.

“It’s recycling on a really big scale,” she said.

Adaptive reuse gives new purpose to older — although not necessarily historic — buildings. It’s a way to preserve interesting architecture and buildings that communities emotionally connect to, even when there is no call for the original use.

In the case of her home, adaptive reuse also gave Weston a unique opportunity to create a 10,000-square-foot house with professional offices for both her and her husband.

But it didn’t come without a great deal of effort. When the Westons bought the church 14 years ago, it was falling apart. That was perfect for Weston, who said big challenges are her favorite kind.

Before they bought it, the church was on the market for two years with no bites. People expressed interest, but no one knew what to do with the structure.

“I’m sure there are opportunities in every little town in the state,” Weston said. “There are so many older buildings.

“They get boarded up or torn down. I’m afraid that’s what happens; it becomes a white elephant in their town. People don’t know what to do with them.”

Adaptive reuse makes up only a small percentage of her workload, but it’s attracting interest. Weston said one of her recent plans is to help a client looking to live in a former town hall.

— Jennifer Pfaff

‘Festivus for the rest of us’

The Wagner Companies is finding interest in its Festivus Pole. Photo courtesy of The Wagner Companies

The unsentimental might sneer at holidays created by greeting-card companies.

But the frowns turn upside down when it comes to special days inspired by comedic television icons.

Just ask the folks at Milwaukee-based The Wagner Companies, the manufacturer and retailer of the Festivus Pole. The company sold 250 poles in four weeks.

“People want the whole Festivus feel — dancing around the pole and all that,” said Keri Gregg, company spokeswoman.

Festivus is the invention of “Seinfeld” character Frank Costanza, played by Jerry Stiller. Celebrated Dec. 23, the holiday’s centerpiece — a bare pole — is a statement against the commercialization of Christmas.

“We are a metal manufacturer; we sell components for handrailings — brackets, flanges, elbows,” Gregg said. “Our vice president of marketing is from New York, and he went to school with Jerry Seinfeld.”

That connection led the company to offer two Festivus pole models — a 72-inch pole and a tabletop version — on its Web site at www.festivuspoles.com.

— Jennifer Pfaff