Photograph by Holly Finn
Address: 4117 34th Ave., Oakley
Price: $1,100,000
David Freeze is religious—but that’s not why he bought 4117 34th Ave. in Oakley in 2014. Rather, as a general contractor and UC professor with a deep passion for Oakley, he says, “I walked in and fell in love with the stained glass windows, the large footprint and the endless opportunities.”
He put his contracting skills to work from there, transforming the formerly fully functional church into a home for his former wife and three sons. Now, it is listed for sale for $1.1 million by Rick Finn, as a 7,500 square foot renovated space complete with four bedrooms, five bathrooms, a British pub, a ballroom, and a “Miami South Beach style” basement, he shares. The property is on a quarter-acre lot and has a three-car garage. The home—known as the Oakley Church of Christ until 1997—was originally built in the early 1900s. The lower level was built in 1915, and the upper two floors were added in 1922.
Photograph by Holly Finn
Prior to 2014, the previous owners had the property listed for years before Freeze found it—but signing on the home wasn’t even the most interesting thing that happened to him that week. Three days afterwards, Don Cheadle, Oscar-winning actor, producer, and director, stopped by with a request—he wanted to film a biopic on Miles Davis in the home. For three months after the purchase, film crews moved in and the property became the set of Miles Ahead, released in 2015. “This house ‘played’ Miles Davis’ Upper West Side Manhattan mansion. Miles Davis in real life had bought a former church in Manhattan,” Freeze says.
Image from "Miles Ahead" courtesy David Freeze
After the dust settled on set, Freeze got to work remodeling. The previous owner had already converted the choir area into a master bedroom overlooking the main room, and had added two new full bathrooms. Freeze constructed three more half bathrooms and transformed the main room into a ballroom, which ended up becoming the site of Oakley’s first masquerade Halloween party, and the venue for two friends’ weddings. The basement was transformed from a traditional church nursery/daycare and fellowship hall to a sleek black-and-white, modern community space. One of two sizeable kitchens was expanded with “acres” of kitchen counter space, including an eight-burner gas range. In a final display of novelty, Freeze installed a two-person sauna.
Photograph by Holly Finn
Throughout the renovation process, Freeze was intent on preserving as much of the original church and its history as possible, down to the working organ, stained glass windows, and other small touches, including a wooden cross he left up after the movie producers closed up shop. A small glass shop in Norwood rebuilt one of the stained glass bathroom windows, completely removing it and “literally [rebuilding] it piece by piece.”
Photograph by Holly Finn
“It’s been a slow go. I have been working on it since the movie production left in August 2014,” says Freeze. “I hate that a lot of the small neighborhood churches are gone now, and this one, I felt obligated.” Through the years, the church house has been home to other Oakley families, such as the Martini family who listed it in 2011 for $325,000.
Photograph by Holly Finn
Originally from Wilmington, Freeze moved to Oakley when one of his children was enrolled in Walnut Hills High School, and fell in love with the neighborhood. He says whoever buys the house will be lucky to have easy walking access to “mom and pop shops,” including some he loves like Oakley Wines and Annie Oakley’s neighborhood bar. So, come for the spiritual living space, and stay for the drinks.
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