Louisville Magazine is Louisville's city magazine, covering Louisville people, lifestyles, politics, sports, restaurants, entertainment and homes. Includes a monthly calendar of events.
Issue link: https://loumag.epubxp.com/i/300717
5.14 LOUISVILLE MAGAZINE 4 3 It's doubtful that Stuart Robinson, a 19th-century Presbyterian minister, ever dreamed that parties would be held in his namesake church at the corner of Sixth Street and Magnolia Avenue. Te sanctuary looks a lot like it did when the Stuart Robinson Memorial Pres- byterian Church was built it 1889. Te wooden altar platform, along with side- altar pipe organ, is still intact. Te pews of the former nave look ready for Sunday services. Colored sunlight shines through the stained-glass window in the back. But confetti litters the foor. A camera sits on a tripod in front of the altar. "It's still here from a New Year's party," says Stanislav Dumstorf, a 24-year-old events DJ who lives there with his parents (his dad is a Russian professor at U of L; his mom's an electrical engineer) and his two younger brothers. His parents bought the place at an auction in 1996 for $90,000. "I think my dad just bought it because it was a unique purchase in a good location," Dumstorf says. He and his brothers grew up in the attached ofce space, which his parents converted into a house. "It's a normal house," Dumstorf says. "It's not too exciting." Beyond the messy kitchen, he declines to show of the rest of the home. Dumstorf doesn't think there's anything special about growing up in a former church — except that the pews made a good place to play hide-and-seek. Te room between the church and the family's living quarters is decorated like a recep- tion hall, with couches and lots of open space. Dad installed wooden Gothic arches to demarcate the public and private space. Dumstorf says they've held a few wed- dings there, and that his dad got certifed to ofciate ceremonies for the occasions. After all, the DJ says, "it is a church." Not Wholly Holy 38-49 Real Estate.indd 43 4/21/14 9:21 AM