Once a synagogue in SC, now a $4.5M mansion for sale. Take a look

The three-story brick building near downtown Greenville housed the city’s first synagogue, two churches, a labor co-op and then a photography studio before being renovated into a private home.

Now, after an extensive million-dollar-plus renovation, the 96-year-old house is for sale. Asking price $4.5 million.

The three-bedroom, four and a half bath residence covers 5,608 square feet on a 0.61-acre lot at 307 Townes St..

The building sat empty for about five years before the current owners, founding partner of an international marketing firm Melinda Lehman and furniture designer Terry Iwaskiw, bought it, moving from Toronto, Canada.

Previous renovations and neglect brought a major challenge to transform a Classical Revival building and turn it into a home.

There was a concrete baptismal pool (which they’ve gotten rid of) and the original sanctuary hardwood floors (which they kept).

Also the dome symbolizing the Star of David has been boarded up. The listing on the National Register says the building built in 1929-1930 was located in an area known as a center of Jewish life and culture in Greenville.

“Roughly 75% of Greenville’s Jewish population lived nearby on East and West Stone Avenue,” the registry says.

When the congregation outgrew the building, a new synagogue was built on Summit Drive, where the congregation still meets.

It was last used as a synagogue in 1957.

All that remains of its use as a synagogue are two inlaid tile Stars of David on the pediment above the front entrance.

Realtor Lil Glenn, the listing agent for the property, calls the renovation “nothing short of breathtaking.”

“The structure itself is remarkable — built of solid brick five courses deep, with new interior blackened steel stairwells across three levels, solid concrete slabs, and expansive Thermopane casement windows, some soaring to 12’ x 6’,” the listing says.

It has five central HVAC systems, new electrical and plumbing throughout, and even a dedicated dog wash.

On the first floor, there are two bedrooms with baths, a game room, a workout space, and living space that goes out to the heated gunite pool.

The second floor has a large foyer, living, dining, a den, an office and kitchen with a 24-foot island.

The third floor is a 900 square foot primary suite with the restored dome and 21-foot ceilings.

The sign for Grace Evangelical Methodist Church remains over the entrance. Uocountry Historical Society said Grace occupied the building from 1959 until 1964 when it housed the Greenville Labor Temple Cooperative. In 1977, Faith Tabernacle Apostolic Church bought the building and finally Crosby Stills, a photo studio owned by a former Greenville News photographer, bought the building in 1988 and sold it in 2004.

Lehman and Iwaskiw bought it in 2015.

The lot has been landscaped with mature plantings, evergreens and native shrubs. A stream runs through the property. There is also a stone patio, a steel arbor with banquet seating, and spaces for outdoor cooking.

“It is an architectural masterpiece that balances historic reverence with modern luxury,” the listing says.