For the man upstairs: Apartment above funeral home, converted from convent

It's probably pretty safe to say most of us would find it a tad odd living above a funeral home - what with the dead bodies and all that.

Not Terry Visconto, whose father, Louis, has been a funeral director all his son's life.

"When I was growing up," says Visconto, 36, "we lived in a funeral home, in an old home in the Northeast. . . . I can remember my mom saying, 'Get Dad for dinner,' and I'd go downstairs, and that's the way it was."

Today, Visconto is living above those bodies by himself.

Two years ago, the Viscontos bought the long-empty convent on the grounds of Resurrection of Our Lord Parish in Northeast Philadelphia. They converted the ground floor for use as the family's funeral home. And on the second floor, they used half the 26 "cells" the nuns had occupied and built an apartment.

What's it like living in a converted convent?

"It's quite different," says Visconto, who has an information-technology consulting business and owns business properties in Conshohocken in addition to working in the family trade. "Living above a funeral home, it's a lot of responsibility. . . . Somebody always has to be there. Normally that is me. It's a 24/7 operation."

When Visconto goes out, someone must know where he is. "There are notes, 'Please call this number.' "

"I can't tell you how many times we were halfway down the Shore and had to turn around."

The lifestyle doesn't bother him, though, he says.

As for noise from the nearby Catholic grade school - the old convent is on its parking lot - he hears nothing, Visconto says. Quite likely that's because the Viscontos replaced 96 windows in the building.

The tale of how a convent became a funeral home and bachelor apartment starts with Resurrection Parish's real-estate-wise and financially astute pastor, the Rev. Joseph Howarth.

For 10 years after the nuns left, the parishioners footed the convent's maintenance bills; Howarth says heat for one winter month alone cost about $1,800. And there was vandalism: A youngster put balls down a pipe, and water backed up. It was a constant worry, Howarth says.

He thought about using the convent as a funeral home. So he asked his friend Louis Visconto, 57, if he was interested in buying it.

Louis Visconto says he didn't hesitate. A Northeast Philly boy (Father Judge High School, Class of '72), he had wanted to move the business away from Glenside decades ago.

"I always wanted to get back to the Northeast," he says. "We were trying to find a good location."

Having an apartment was part of the plan from the outset, his son says, but "we have room for a family up there."

Before they settled on the property in July for nearly $300,000, the Viscontos say, there was some neighborhood opposition - concern over late business hours, primarily. But Louis Visconto says the funeral home "drilled down" its hours, so the resistance soon evaporated.

Work on the structure began immediately after the Viscontos received the necessary zoning changes, and they made the move in January.

In the business portion of the building, the Viscontos reused the marble dividers from the old bathrooms for the bathroom floors, and reused stone taken from a landing in the back to fill holes left from the individual air conditioners. New central air-conditioning material weighed 20 tons.

The Viscontos helped with the heavy labor, ripping up carpeting, tearing out ceilings and walls, and cleaning up after the contractors.

As they tore away, they found some reminders of the nuns who lived there, old letters and so on. Attempts to find their owners were fruitless, the Viscontos say.

Head up a flight of steps to Terry Visconto's apartment, and it's no wonder he is willing to accept the 24/7 responsibility of the family's business. A great room, done in muted tones, at once conveys masculinity and comfort.

At one end is a large couch, a wet bar, a 47-inch television, and a dining area. At the other is a kitchen with granite countertops, a slate floor, and maple cabinets. Again, muted tones dominate. Terry Visconto says his mother oversaw the interior design.

The apartment has three bedrooms, an office, a master bath, another full bathroom, and a powder room. The Viscontos used 13 cells, each about 13 by 10 feet, to create the residence.

At the beginning of the project, Howarth says, many parishioners were apprehensive, but most people are now very pleased.

"What they have done [is] taken a liability for the parish and the neighborhood and turned it into an asset for the parish and the neighborhood."

For Terry Visconto, living above the funeral home is ideal.

"You are there as caretaker to a loved one," he says. "If there is a fire, I am wheeling loved ones out with me."

And lady friends?

"I've had dates here," he says. "They love it. It looks like something out of a catalog."

Quips his father: "I am sure they mirror nuns, anyway."

Tell us about your haven by e-mail (and send some digital photographs) at properties@phillynews

.comEndText