The priciest unusual conversion we could price in 2026 is a three-bedroom penthouse inside the 1867 Gasholders at King’s Cross, London, listed at about £7.75 million. This list ranks six former power stations, gasholders, water towers, churches and cranes by their latest dated price, and notes the earlier entries we could not confirm.
| Rank | Conversion | Latest price we found |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Gasholders, King’s Cross, London | Penthouses listed at £7.4 million to £7.75 million |
| 2 | Roscoe Village church, Chicago | Listed at $6.5 million (August 2026) |
| 3 | Seal Beach Water Tower, California | Sold for $4.6 million (15 January 2026) |
| 4 | Battersea Power Station, London | Triplex penthouse listed at £3,295,000 |
| 5 | 1892 Anglican church, Moonee Ponds, Melbourne | Sold for A$2.4 million (2012) |
| 6 | Faralda Crane Hotel, Amsterdam | Suites from €1,000 per night |
Which unusual buildings have become the best luxury homes?
1. Gasholders, King’s Cross, London
Three grade II listed Victorian gasholders from 1867 were turned into apartments by architects Wilkinson Eyre, with interiors by Jonathan Tuckey Design. The development includes nine penthouses, and listings have shown a three-bedroom penthouse at £7.75 million (2019), with later listings near £7.4 million to £7.5 million.
How we valued it: asking prices from listings between 2019 and about 2024. No sale price was published.
2. The Roscoe Village church, Chicago
A former Lutheran church in Chicago’s Roscoe Village has been converted into a roughly 10,000 square foot single-family home. It was marketed privately at $5.5 million in 2022 without selling and hit the market in August 2026 at $6.5 million.
How we valued it: the August 2026 asking price. It is unsold.
3. Seal Beach Water Tower, California
The 1890 tower, 87 feet tall, sold on 15 January 2026 for $4.6 million. The buyer, a medical corporation, plans to use it as a personal residence and short-term rental.
How we valued it: reported sale price and date, the only completed 2026 sale on this list.
4. Battersea Power Station, London
The main building opened to the public in October 2022 after years of stalled redevelopment, and its developer reported record annual sales of over £300 million in 2021. A triplex penthouse with a roof terrace in Switch House West is listed at £3,295,000.
How we valued it: a current asking price for one penthouse; we found no record sale.
5. The 1892 Anglican church, Moonee Ponds, Melbourne
Architects Dominic and Marie Bagnato converted this Gothic timber church into their own home. It keeps the original hall, adds a mezzanine for bedrooms and bathrooms, and has five bedrooms, five bathrooms, a gym and a basement wine cellar. It sold in 2012 for A$2.4 million.
How we valued it: the 2012 sale price, kept with its year and not adjusted.
6. Faralda Crane Hotel, Amsterdam
This one is a stay rather than a purchase. The last hammerhead crane at the NDSM shipyard was dismantled in 2013, refurbished and returned on 22 October 2013 as a hotel with three suites. Its own site lists each suite from €1,000 per night. It joins the world of the strangest hotels in the world.
How we valued it: the hotel’s published starting rate.
Which conversions from the earlier list are unconfirmed?
- Israeli bus home, West Yorkshire pump house, Skeppsholmen barge, World War Two bunker apartments, French barn and the “Cube” water tower: we could not match them to a current address, owner or price.
- Torpedo Hall apartments, Copenhagen: no current listing found.
- Holmenkollen ski jump penthouse, Oslo: we found no source that it is available to stay in or buy.
Keep reading
- How a house became an investment product: why property conversions are priced like assets
- What it really costs to live in a hotel: the stay-versus-own question
- What you find in a poor person’s home: the other end of the housing story
FAQ
What is the most expensive converted building home?
On the prices we could check, the Gasholders penthouses at King’s Cross lead, with a three-bedroom penthouse listed at £7.75 million in 2019 and another near £7.4 million to £7.5 million in later listings. These are asking prices, not completed sales.
What is the most expensive converted water tower sold recently?
The Seal Beach Water Tower in California, built in 1890 and 87 feet tall, sold on 15 January 2026 for $4.6 million.
Can you stay in the Faralda Crane in Amsterdam?
Yes. The Faralda Crane Hotel at NDSM has three suites, listed from €1,000 per night on its own site, and the hotel handles requests by invitation form.
Why do church conversions make good homes?
Churches offer tall volumes and large windows, so architects can add mezzanines without losing the space. The 1892 Moonee Ponds church in Melbourne kept its hall and added a mezzanine and a second building, and it sold for A$2.4 million.
Why did the list drop from 10 to 6?
We kept only conversions we could confirm still exist and have a dated price or status. The rest are listed as unconfirmed below.
How did Alux rank these homes?
We ranked by the latest dated price we could find: sale price when sold, asking price when listed, nightly rate for the hotel.
How we put this list together
We kept only conversions whose current status we could check and ranked them by the latest dated price. Asking prices, sale prices and nightly rates are labelled so you can tell them apart.
Last updated: October 2026.
