From North West PA.
John Pierce Archer, a devout Christian, feels right at home living in a former church in Mount Jewett, about 75 miles southeast of Erie and 20 miles south of Pennsylvania's border with New York.
"This feels cozy and comfy," Archer said as he showed off his home in the former St. Margaret Episcopal Church. "It's my Fortress of Solitude."
Archer, a world-renown art curator whose primary home is in Palm Beach, Fla., purchased the Mount Jewett church on Dec. 30, 2006.
"I'd been looking for churches to buy for years before I found this one listed on eBay," Archer said. An Episcopalian, Archer said finding the church in Mount Jewett was an "epiphany."
"Frankly, I never knew where Mount Jewett was on the map," Archer said. The town of little more than a thousand residents turned out to be on U.S. Route 6, just east of the Allegheny National Forest. "I've never been in this neck of the woods before. It's not on my radar."
Archer said he traveled to Mount Jewett to see the church for the first time on a bitterly cold snowy day. He completed the deal to buy the church "in two hours" and began making plans for extensive renovations and cleaning to convert the building into what he calls the favorite of his three homes in the U.S.
A native of Scarsdale, N.Y., Archer received an academic scholarship to attend the University of Wisconsin where he majored in business and minored in art history.
His college minor "ended up being my vocation in life," Archer said.
For nearly 30 years, Archer headed his own company — Pierce-Archer LTD of New Canaan, Conn. Pierce is a family name.
More here-
http://www.fosters.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20091005/GJLIFESTYLES/910019942/-1/FOSLIFESTYLES
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