Pat Wickline won’t forget the day he took a wrong turn on a visit to Fairhaven while bemoaning Bellingham real estate prices. That was when he spotted The Church House.

He had to have it, cost be damned. Seven years later, people now admire the Carpenter Gothic structure on Mill Avenue, and Wickline has a starter house like none other.

In Fairhaven, where new construction is often a sore spot, few could begrudge Wickline what some folks had figured was pretty much a lost cause — restoring a tumbledown 1890 Methodist church.

He and his life partner, Sharon Streams, began living in their new home three years ago. Other than landscaping, the project is pretty well finished.

They have held several private home concerts, since their living room can comfortably hold 125 people. This Sunday, Amy Denio and The Tiptons Sax Quartet and Drums will play eclectic jazz in a public concert.

Wickline, 43, is a software researcher and Streams, 40, is a Web publisher.

Question: I was stunned by this place when I first saw the inside. Is that the original ceiling?

Wickline: It really is the original ceiling, and the fir floors are original, too. The ceiling looks like the hull of a ship, doesn’t it? The stucco we removed preserved original Victorian shingles. Now it’s painted in caper green with trim in bitter chocolate and burgundy.

Streams: We pretty much feel we have to hold gatherings here because the church demands it. Pat and I are both passionate about music and there are such incredible acoustics in this house.

Q: You have such phenomenally eclectic decorations and furniture and historic displays on the walls. It all takes one’s breath away. What are these metallic squids you have hanging from the ceiling?

Wickline: Those are my sculptures for sale. Sculpture is my passion. You know the 27-foot squid at the Pike Place Market in Seattle? I created that.

Q: You must have had amazing help with your restoration project.

Wickline: There’s no way we could have saved this house without our designer, Alexei Ford, and our contractor, Ian Hamilton. Alexei (of Alexei Ford Design Studios) did incredible work at low cost to preserve the character. Ian was only 21 when he started but he became a man on this job. We owe both of them and everyone else who has helped us more than we can express.

Q: Can I ask how much you paid for the land and structure and how much you’ve put into the restoration?

Wickline: I like to call it my starter house! I had never owned a home. It cost $289,900 in April of 2000 and we’ve spent about $500,000 more. We’re very fortunate, because with the rapidly increasing cost of materials in recent years, we couldn’t do it today. I’m fortunate to have had the money, but I’m certainly no multi-millionaire!

Q: Well, it’s surely worth far more than those two figures combined now. Not bad for a place that used to be a well-known hippie hangout back when Fairhaven was considerably funkier.

Wickline: I met Bill Charles, who had owned it since 1975. It had been on the market for a couple of years, but nobody was willing to take a chance on it. He acquired the building from a Bellingham antiques dealer, Jim Raines. When I was a student at Western, the house seemed sketchy but intriguing.

Q: Pat, people must have thought you were crazy to take on the challenge.

Streams: I didn’t! We were friends at the time. When I heard Pat bought the place, I said he’s just the right kind of crazy to do it.

Wickline: No one thought I’d get my money out of it. The irony is, I’m not what you would call a “big house person.” I’m just here because it is what it is.

Q: How did you find the photo of the original church in 1890?

Wickline: Jeff Jewell at the Whatcom Museum is an old friend. When I mentioned buying the house to him, he came up with this marvelous original photo. That was the guideline we wound up using for restoration. I also feel like we’re caretakers, which is why we have historic items in frames on our walls.

The church was built during that brief boom period when everyone thought Fairhaven was going to become the next Seattle. It was used both by Methodists and Episcopalians. And when it became a house, there was so much history here. The Jefferson Airplane came to a party here, and Joan Baez and Jimmy Buffett were here, among many others. You can just feel a spirit here.

Streams: We love it when people come by and tell us, “I went to so-and-so’s party here.” I love the stories. A lot of people in Bellingham experienced this house.