March 2026.
Ever popular with Ohio State students and the bougie recent grads living in Dennison Place/Victorian Village is Stauf’s, a trendy coffee shop located inside a historic church. The church itself is small and not very unique architecturally, but I have to say a coffee shop isn’t a common adaptive reuse for unused churches.
Stauf’s is located at 1334 Neil Avenue in the Dennison Place neighborhood of Columbus, Ohio. It is bordered by 6th Avenue to the north, Neil Avenue to the west, and historic houses all around.
History
1910 photo of the church’s exterior. (Columbus Metropolitan Library)
The church building that Stauf’s currently occupies was built between 1905 and 1906 by architect J. Upton Gribben (a member of the congregation) as the Neil Avenue United Presbyterian Church. It replaced a smaller, older brick church building slightly east of the current site, which seemed to have a 26-foot bell tower on the corner.
Before I continue, I want to emphasize the fact that every single source spouting an 1880s date of construction is incorrect, which is unfortunate, because several of Google’s results say it. I was skeptical of this date for several reasons:
This church is a simpler English Gothic Revival design, and it is a little too fussy for the more eclectic Victorian architectural styles popular in the 1880s
The church does not appear on the 1901 Sanborn map in its current configuration
The cornerstone reads “1892-1905”
Lastly, the architect was 7 years old in 1880, and did not graduate college until 1895
The more reputable sources cited the correct date, but those that used the incorrect one were news websites about Stauf’s opening. The moral of this tangent is that it’s always important to cross-reference things and make sure different sources line up--I am pretty stringent about this and make a note if my information doesn’t line up. I think the 1880 date comes from when the congregation was actually founded and not when the church itself was built.
A view of the interior, also in 1910. (Columbus Metropolitan Library)
Anyways, Neil Avenue United Presbyterian used the church building through 1965, when it relocated that year to Bethel Road on the northwest side and became Bethel United Presbyterian. The building was purchased by the Columbus Mennonite Church (now located in Clintonville) that year. The Mennonites moved to their present home in 1998, and the church building was left vacant. The Stauf’s owner stated it “hadn’t been a church for 25 years” when he purchased the building, and it was converted to residential use afterwards.
Stauf’s was founded in 1988, but it opened inside the former Neil Avenue United Presbyterian Church in 2019. They adaptively reused the building, which included a great deal of preservation work. The stained glass that needed to be removed was repurposed into a hanging art piece, the original doors were refinished, and the pews were reused.
Photos
My modern photo from the same angle as the 1910 one shows the church is very intact on the exterior, minus the addition of plastic sheets over the stained-glass windows:
The masonry of this one is pretty interesting. It has a pinkish tinge, which is accentuated through the wide bands of red mortar. It is laid roughly and unevenly, meant to recall medieval church construction.
The tower is pretty simple, a square volume with corner buttresses at a 45 degree angle and a crenellated top:
North facade with blooming trees nearby:
The rectory, which has been converted into apartments:
The building’s plan is symmetrical, but features such as the towers are uneven and add a touch of the picturesque. This “large tower, small tower” composition is a very common trope of Gothic Revival architecture of this era.
This church actually does a really great job respecting its context, too, as it is the same scale as the surrounding houses. It doesn’t try to be Notre-Dame plunked into a residential area.
The smaller tower, which looks like it was plucked straight off of a castle:
Stained-glass window and jagged masonry above:
The cornerstone is on the edge of this window. 1892 may have been the founding date of the congregation, as I’ve seen similar dedications on other churches:
Straight-on view of the larger tower:
I got some more detailed shots of the tower’s features. Here is the entrance portal, with a pointed arch, and the doors beyond:
A closer look at the stone reliefs of the church’s name:
The wooden vents on the belfry:
These are original but need a little love. I like the green’s contrast with the red mortar.
The tower’s crown:
Very medieval with the castellated peak. The stone pieces that jut out slightly are likely meant to suggest the presence of gargoyles, but those were probably out of this little church’s budget.
This is one of the few Columbus buildings I went inside, which was well worth it. Let’s enter through these original wooden doors:
The narthex is tiny and dark. The stairs lead up the tower but are off limits.
Looking back at the doors:
This church’s interior was originally painted white, so Stauf’s didn’t ruin any original features, but the woodwork wasn’t. The space is more about the interior design/furniture and form of the space versus any fancy murals or woodwork:
I went at an off-period (like 3pm), but this interior is usually jam-packed with people studying and drinking coffee. Nonetheless, I threw my “silent shutter” mode on and was in and out.
Stauf’s wanted a mid-century modern space to bridge the gap between a historic church and modern use, so features such as the couches and light fixtures are examples of that style. I think the earth-tone color works well--if it was a more grayscale palette, it wouldn’t.
Looking up at the hanging artwork made out of some of the stained glass:
One of the aisles now formed by the central counter:
I really love the contrast of these industrial metal ducts snaking between wooden tracery. This looks like something my architecture professor would use as inspo for our wacky designs.
West wall of the interior:
The segmental arch on the left has subtle, floral corbels:
I had to speed up my shutter speed a bunch to get this better-exposed view of the colors in the stained glass:
Stauf’s is unionizing, too, which is awesome. This is great news in wake of the owner’s comments about not refusing service to ICE, a very controversial statement among the Columbus public.
Sources:
https://www.loc.gov/resource/g4084cm.g4084cm_g06656190101/?sp=55&st=image
https://www.columbusmennonite.org/who-we-are/
https://www.ohiogenealogyexpress.com/franklin/franklinco_bios_1909/franklinco_bios_1909_g.htm
https://www.staufs.com/our-story
https://digital-collections.columbuslibrary.org/digital/collection/ohio/id/23124
https://digital-collections.columbuslibrary.org/digital/collection/columbusmaps/id/5196/rec/3
https://www.dignitymemorial.com/obituaries/nashville-tn/john-hollingsworth-4175670
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