A brick church built in 1870 that once held German-language services in downtown Eudora is now a short-term rental with an indoor pool, a poker room and a $1.3 million asking price. The building at 718 Church St., known to longtime residents as Salem Chapel, has become Brickhaven Inn, an Airbnb property owned by contractor Aaron Thakker.
Thakker bought the property last year and now operates it as a short-term rental, according to the Lawrence Journal-World. The 4,700-square-foot building now has four bedrooms, three bathrooms, a putting green, a pool table, a basketball court and an arcade alongside the indoor pool, which stays open year-round and includes noise monitors. Thakker told the paper the setup gives families amenities that support staycations, and the property has already hosted family celebrations and group events that bring visitors into the local economy.
From German Pulpit to Community Hall
The chapel dates to 1870. Services were held in German from 1870 until America's entry into World War I, per the Journal-World's reporting, with Ben Terwilliger, executive director of the Eudora Community Museum, dating the switch away from German-language services to 1917.
The congregation added a belfry in 1905, joined the Evangelical United Brethren Church in 1956, and merged with Eudora United Methodist Church in 1966, when regular religious services at the building stopped for good, according to the Eudora Area Historical Society. The building went through several congregations and mergers over the decades, per the Journal-World. In the 1970s it became a gathering place for Eudora organizations, hosting the Boy Scouts and the Eudora Youth Service Organization, a meeting-hall role it kept until 2007, when it became a private residence.
Artifacts Preserved, A New Owner Steps In
Former Salem Chapel members helped establish Eudora's historical society, and the Eudora Community Museum now showcases artifacts from the church, including the trowel used to lay its original bricks and the church's altar rail. Terwilliger said repurposing old buildings helps preserve them, a sentiment echoed elsewhere in Eudora: 610 Church Street, one of the town's historic Black churches, is now also a private residence.
Mike and Lori Smith lived at 718 Church St. for about 19 years before Thakker's purchase, and Mike Smith added a bedroom and renovated the building during that time, the Journal-World reports. He also renovated the neighboring property at 710 Church Street, known as The Gatehouse, a three-bedroom residence built in the 1860s. That home underwent a major remodel from 2022 to 2024 and is now listed for sale at $650,000, designed to operate on its own or paired with Brickhaven Inn for larger group staycations, according to a Zillow listing.
A Listing Price That Outpaces the Tax Rolls
Brickhaven Inn is listed for $1.3 million. Potential buyers have already expressed interest, but Thakker has conditioned any future sale on the new owner continuing to operate the building as an Airbnb, and future buyers would also have to honor half of the charitable donations he's already committed. Thakker has pledged 5% of rental proceeds to the Eudora Community Food Bank and has provided four months of free stays to charitable organizations.
Thakker estimates the property could generate up to $2,000 per month in taxes, a figure that lands amid a broader city push to capture more revenue from short-term rentals. The Eudora City Commission approved a transient guest tax framework of up to 10% on September 14, though commissioners have not yet set the actual rate that will apply. The tax functions as a special sales levy on hotel stays and short-term rentals, and city officials hope it can eventually ease pressure on local property tax mill rates.
The City's Transient Guest Tax Framework
Commissioner Jason Musick told The Eudora Times that approving the transient guest tax framework captures revenue the city had “left on the table for years.”
Brickhaven Inn does come with house rules reflecting its residential setting — the property has noise and parking rules, does not allow on-street parking, and provides off-street parking instead. Eudora's population has grown modestly to roughly 6,000 residents, and the town sits just east of Lawrence along the K-10 corridor.
