photo by: Michael Glenn/Journal-World

The church at 718 Church St. was built by German immigrants and was known as the Salem Chapel. It was used as a meeting hall for Eudora organizations until 2007, when it became a private residence.

The old stone structure on the edge of downtown Eudora has a history of being unique: It started offering church services in German in 1870 and continued to do so until America’s entry into World War I.

Today, the building at 718 Church Street stands out for different reasons: a putting green, an indoor pool, and a $1.3 million asking price in this town of about 6,000 people just east of Lawrence. It also is providing a blueprint for how an old church building can help pump new life into a small downtown.

Eudora entrepreneur Aaron Thakker bought the property — now called the Brickhaven Inn — last year and has operated it as a short-term rental property on Airbnb featuring a pool table, poker room, arcade, and basketball court, in addition to the putting green and indoor pool. The four bedroom, three bathroom property with 4,700 square feet has hosted family celebrations and group events that Thakker said brought people to spend money in the Eudora economy.

“We wanted to build something that would be good for our family and other families,” Thakker said. “We’ve got a cool downtown area. It’s kind of a fun, safe community and it’s quiet. We give them these amenities here at the Airbnb, and they can do a staycation.”

photo by: Michael Glenn/Journal-World

Aaron Thakker, owner of 718 Church St., showcases the living room of 718 Church
Street, a church-turned-Airbnb property listed for $1.3 million on the real estate market.

While Thakker has been involved in the project for about a year, bringing the building back to life has been a nearly two decade process.

Mike and Lori Smith lived in the property for around 19 years before selling it to Thakker. Mike said he added a bedroom to the property and renovated it over the time he and his wife lived there. He also renovated the house at 710 Church Street, which is next to the property.

“I always knew I could make it look more like a house,” Mike said. “I did a bunch of stone and it never had any stone before. We made it livable until we decided we wanted to live on some acreage. It was a chore, but I like doing stuff like that, so it was no biggy for me.”

Thakker, a building contractor who owns multiple properties in Eudora and Lawrence, was looking at other properties to renovate that the Smiths owned downtown, but couldn’t finalize plans for a project.

“I mentioned something about their house,” Thakker said. “You know, we would really love their house, and they agreed to sell it to us. After that, it was the perfect spot to turn into an Airbnb.”

photo by: Michael Glenn/Journal-World

Owner Aaron Thakker added an indoor pool for guests at 718 Church St. The pool is
open year-round and has noise monitors to help reduce noise for neighbors.

The property also has become a driver for community donations. Thakker decided that 5% of the rental proceeds from the property would go to the Eudora Community Food Bank. He also has provided four months worth of free stays at the property to organizations that use the property for charitable purposes.

Now, the property could end up being a significant new tax generator for the city of Eudora. Thakker estimates the property could generate up to $2,000 per month in taxes, if the City of Eudora approves a transient guest tax, which is a special type of sales tax charged on hotel stays and short-term rentals.

The Eudora City Commission approved a transient guest tax of up to 10% at its Sept. 14 meeting but has not set an actual rate to collect.

“We did this for our community,” Thakker said. “We set this space up for the community to use. I’m glad we’re able to do something like that and be able to do something fun for the town here.”

Thakker said he has noise and parking rules to help maintain a quiet environment for neighbors. The property doesn’t allow on-street parking and has off-street parking available. Thakker can contact occupants of the property if they are being too loud.

“We try to be good to our guests, but we try to be better to our neighbors,” Thakker said. “There’s a lot of people who park on the street, and we don’t want to take their parking spot.”

While a few potential buyers have expressed interest in the property, Thakker said he has mixed emotions about a future sale. He said hopes the property only sells if it can continue to be a “fun blessing” for the community.

“I think the people that will buy it will keep it as an Airbnb,” said Thakker, who has put some conditions on the future sale aimed at making the Airbnb use more likely for the future. “They’re going to have to honor half these donations we’ve made already. If they don’t want to do that, they can’t buy it.”

photo by: Michael Glenn/Journal-World

The main bedroom of 718 Church St. includes a full bathroom, fireplace and day bed
for occupants.

Whatever its future, the project already has done much to highlight an important part of Eudora’s past, the leader of the town’s historical society said.

Ben Terwilliger, executive director of the Eudora Community Museum, said the property is historically known as the Salem Chapel. Terwilliger said German immigrants, who made up the majority of Eudora’s early residents, built the church in 1870 and hosted services in German until 1917 when America declared war against Germany as part of World War I.

The church went through several congregations and mergers before it became a gathering place for Eudora organizations in the 1970s. Church services stopped in 1966 after the merger of the Evangelical United Brethren and Eudora United Methodist churches. Terwilliger said the Methodists allowed the Boy Scouts, Eudora Youth Service Organization and others to meet at the vacant church. Meetings took place at the church until 2007.

The Brickhaven Inn project is a good example of what can be done with old buildings, and Terwilliger said the two or three blocks of Church Street just east of the downtown district are good reminders of the possibilities.

“A lot of the former churches on Church Street have gone through that transformation,” Terwilliger said. “610 Church Street was one of Eudora’s historic Black churches, and now it’s a private residence.”

Terwilliger said former members of Salem Chapel property helped establish the city’s historical society. Many of its artifacts are showcased at the museum, including the trowel used to lay the original bricks of the church and its altar rail. He added that the renovations can help give the buildings a purpose rather than sit unused.

“Thankfully, people have gone in there and repurposed it to make houses out of it,” Terwilliger said. “It’s a neat way to preserve buildings. In building preservation, the worst thing is for a building to sit vacant. When it is repurposed, it generally is a good thing, and gives a new lease to life.”

photo by: Michael Glenn/Journal-World

Aaron Thakker holds the Brickhaven Inn’s guestbook at 718 Church St. featuring
guests from Kansas City.

photo by: Michael Glenn/Journal-World

One of the rooms of 718 Church St. hosts a poker table and a full suit of armor,
Owner Aaron Thakker said.