T.M. Brown

Earlier this year, Abbie Lin and Shaman Kothari were faced with a conundrum. A new owner had taken over their apartment building in Prospect Heights, Brooklyn, and was refusing to renew the leases of any of the tenants.“We never thought buying a place would be something that would happen for us,” said Ms. Lin, 32.

As church congregations across the United States wither and disappear, the buildings they leave behind are becoming private homes.When Louis Cahill was growing up in southern Virginia, a neighbor bought an old Catholic chapel and turned it into a home, which fascinated him. So in 2022, when he and his wife Kathy were looking toward