Renovation & Reverence with Father Damien
Story by Tracy Nicholson
Photography by Adman Productions
If Father Damien Schill seems familiar, he probably is. Since he was ordained in 1987, he has served as a chaplain for the Fargo, Philadelphia, and Minneapolis VA for 36 years and as a deacon, parochial vicar, and pastor in several parishes in the Diocese of Fargo. When he retired in 2023, it was the perfect time to pursue his many other passions: renovating homes, cooking, and caring for and curating a collection of family heirlooms and sacred cultural and religious artifacts. Relocating closer to family, he found an entertainer's kitchen and the ideal renovation project — a beautiful Fargo condo with generous wall space to house the hallowed collection he'd been building since childhood.
A Hallowed Home
Father Damien was born at Deaconess Hospital in Grand Forks and grew up in Mount Carmel, ND, near the Canadian border. Raised in a quiet rural landscape, he learned the value of hard work and the beauty of global and liturgical history early on. When most kids were saving their money for the next great toy, Father Damien was eyeing brass candlesticks and statues of St. Francis, pieces that catalyzed a lifetime of antique collecting and preservation.
“The rule of my house is to welcome
all guests as you welcome Christ himself.”
"Ever since I was little, I liked this sort of stuff. My parents divorced, and in our town—an all-Catholic community—they were the first ones, so it was very traumatic. The people who took care of me a lot next door, Frank and Annie Hell — she had a lot of china. Her son was in the Navy, and Japan after the war, so he would send her pieces back. She had a lot of nice things. I just started to appreciate these pieces over the years. When I sold my first pigs, which I raised on our family farm when I was eight, that's when I got my first pair of candlesticks. I was never a normal child," laughed Father Damien. "I didn't like to play with stuff because I thought it would break. I got a new red wagon in a box for Christmas once and never took it out of the box."
As the years passed, Father Damien inherited family heirlooms, explored antique and thrift stores in his travels, and recruited skilled artisans to restore liturgical artifacts for his home and churches. He was also gifted countless pieces from friends, colleagues, and churches where he served. As churches were decommissioned and loved ones passed, he became the keeper of relics and the caretaker of history, ensuring nothing sacred was left behind.
Throughout his global travels, he's managed the renovation of several homes and churches. In this latest project, completed in the fall of 2025, Father Damien completed a 2,646-square-foot renovation of his two-bed, two- bath condo, keeping the bold cabinetry but reconfiguring space to better suit his lifestyle.
All Are Welcome
At the foyer, Father Damien welcomes all guests as he'd welcome Christ himself.
Here, he preserved the home's original architecture, greeting guests with a mosaic tile floor from Lebanon, opulent English wallcovering, and a bronze sculpture of St. Damien the Leper by Rudolph Brohm — the only one like it in the world.
Father Damien Schill
Nearby are a "Book of the Gospels" and a 19th- century piece depicting Diana the Huntress. Other works at the entry include an 1830s Second Empire French cabinet, a 16th-century manuscript page from a Psalter, and a hand-carved Saint Joseph sculpture; the saint who Father Damien claims is responsible for the move to this home.
"When I retired, I decided not to leave the Cities right away. I said I wouldn't leave until my mother dies and I retire," explained Father Damien. "Mother died in 2022, and I retired in 2023. Then, I thought about Texas, Florida, or maybe Northern Minnesota. My brothers live in the Grand Forks area, but they didn't have the housing like this that I could afford. So, I asked Saint Joseph to find me a house."
Father Damien found this Fargo condo on its first day on the market in 2024, but the owners were asking more than he was comfortable with, especially considering the amount of work it needed. He quickly moved on, and others stepped in. By then, he had lined up another home, but his friend urged him to reconsider. "I was at his place looking online, and I noticed that this place was back on the market. So, I called my realtor, Darren Roehrich of Dakota Plains Reality, to find out what was going on," he explained. "The people had put earnest money down, but they wanted to raise the ceilings 16 inches into the mechanical space and the association wouldn't allow it, so they backed out. Saint Joseph is responsible for me being here, so, he is always at the center of the house."
Quiet Reverence
In the main living room, Father Damien replaced the wall-to-wall shag with a ceramic, wood-look tile and mosaic floor displaying the traditional Christian symbol of IHS, which is the first three letters of Jesus in Greek. The spectacular fireplace was salvaged from an old mansion in Orono, Minnesota. "I bought it from Architectural Antiques in the cities, which is funny, because I was in New York at the time looking for mantels, and this came up... in Minneapolis. I've been shopping there for 35 years, so I got it," laughed Father Damien.
While the original condo had an entertainment and TV wall, Father Damien prefers to keep TVs out of public areas. To display his vast collection, he worked with NorthStar Cabinets to create floor-to-ceiling cherry bookcases to match the original cabinetry. Within this collection is an eclectic mix of Chinese artwork, heirloom farm toys, and even a replica of the nail that held Jesus to the cross.
His furnishings are a mix of historic, thrifted, and modern-day, with newer pieces from Hom Furniture, Furniture Mart, Ethan Allen from a previous home, finds from Facebook Marketplace, and his oldest pieces, like the 19th- century side table and a floral chair from Kashmir, India. On the larger kidney sofa is a pillow highlighting every state he's lived in, including Oregon, South Dakota, Colorado, Pennsylvania, North Dakota, and Minnesota.
Throughout the main living areas, patios, and bedrooms, he worked with Fargo Glass & Paint's Window Coverings Specialist, Kim Stromberg, to choose paint colors and custom-design each of the beautiful drapes, shades, and window coverings. Each one needed to coordinate with the wallcoverings and cabinetry Father Damien had chosen in advance. "Kim was really good to work with," said Father Damien. "She also really came to my rescue, helping when we had construction challenges. Of all the people I worked with, Kim and Fritz were probably the most instrumental in the final plan. They were both very detail-oriented and would lay things out for me to look at. Also, Kim was right about keeping the ceiling more of a basic white."
"When I showed up to do the paint colors and draperies, I opened the front door, and it was rubble to my ankles in here," laughed Stromberg. "We had a great connection, so that makes it easy to work with someone. My vision was just to not take away from the beauty of everything that was going to be in the space."
Historic Warmth
While the original floor plan included a three-sided fireplace, Father Damien shifted its position and made space for a monumental two-sided fireplace, with the dining side showcasing a peacock wallcovering and historical surround from the 1912 Morton Salt mansion that was torn down in Chicago. This is one of the few rooms that repurposed its drapes, using just one part of the original window treatment.
All of the home's lighting comes from the online auction of a now-defunct lighting store in St. Paul. Although the Ralph Lauren chandelier in the dining room is valued at $12,000, Father Damien got it for $250 in the auction. When it was damaged in storage and missing pieces, he contacted a Fergus Falls dealer to order parts; Chandeliers, Inc., which happens to be the largest chandelier dealer in the U.S.
Key pieces on display are French paintings by Gérald Engler, a copy of the Ethiopian Last Supper, The Princess and the Bouquet, by Korean artist Charles Lee, and the Ecstasy of Saint Martin La Porte, a painting from the 1600s, which Father Damien found at a thrift store in Ohio. To give the dining room a pristine and finished look, tile installer Fritz Geffre created the elaborate Italian tile border and tassel corner design.
Cooking With Father Damien
In the large chef's kitchen, Father Damien kept only the original cherry cabinets, the dishwasher, the fridge, and the copper tile backsplash — adding custom outlet covers by The Iron Guy. The original Formica countertops were replaced with a Parisian Corian on the perimeter and a bold, blue- grained granite from Northern Stone on the island.
Father Damien doesn't just enjoy entertaining and cooking for upwards of 50 to 75 people at a time; he's also a published author, sharing his experience as an Executive Chef for the Jesuits at the La Sorta House in Minneapolis. "While I was working for them, I had to come up with a four-course meal from scratch every day, five days a week," he stated in the preface of his book. "The entire time that I worked for them, I never served the same menu twice; consequently, I have lots of recipes!"
Several years ago, he and his housekeeper and friend, RaeAnn Lehse, put plans in place to write a cookbook. When she died, he carried their dream forward, finishing Volume 1 by Easter of 2018, sharing everything but entrées and desserts. By Easter 2019, Father Damien had completed the entrées volume. His last Cooking with Father Damien & Friends desserts edition was completed a year later, including recipes from RaeAnn and several other friends throughout the trilogy. The most recent two are currently available at Hurley's Religious Goods in Fargo. One of Father Damien's personal favorite recipes is the second volume's Chateaubriand with cognac mustard sauce.
Just off the kitchen, the old pantry has been reconfigured into a laundry room and larger walk-in pantry. Here, Father Damien worked with NorthStar Cabinets to recreate laundry and pantry additions of the red-stained cherry cabinets, including an expansive spice rack.
The Chapel
Leading to the chapel, Father Damien displays the stations of the Cross, made in 1888. These lithographs once hung in the original Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church before ending up in the priest’s barn. Before the barn was burned in 2000, he retrieved them and gained permission from Bishop Sullivan to restore and keep them. The lion's head wall sconces are from the refurbished Stillwater Inn in Stillwater, Minnesota. Father Damien strategically designed the chapel at the heart of the home, reserving the most opulent design and relics of saints in the chapel dedicated to Our Lady of Mount Carmel, his home parish that has since closed. The chapel's tabernacle, from the old Good Shepherd Convent in Philadelphia, was made in the 1800s. The sanctuary lamp was remade by Rudolph Brohm with pieces saved from St. Mary’s chapel at the Saint Paul Seminary. The altar was originally designed for Father Damien's house in the Cities, bearing the same type of Corinthian columns he'd salvaged for the bedroom. Here, repurposed Italian tile frames custom mosaic pieces depicting St. Joseph and the Child Jesus, and Our Lady of Mount Carmel, with a stunning custom Holy Spirit mosaic on the ceiling.
"I celebrate Mass here every day," said Father Damien. "This is the most important room in the house; the rest is just periphery. The most important thing to me is the Eucharist; without the Mass, none of this stuff matters. My faith is based on Jesus Christ, not on popes, not on bishops, not on anyone else. Christ's physical presence in the Eucharist is what sustains me."
Sacred Hospitality
In the guest room, some of Father Damien’s finest cultural and liturgical art collections are on display for all to admire. "I think everything goes together; nothing says, I shouldn't be here," said Father Damien.
The room's wood prints are from the only studio in China that survived the decade-long Cultural Revolution that began in 1966. "This was the only studio that was allowed to continue, so these are from the 16th and 17th centuries. Dr. Timothy Choy, who was a professor at Moorhead State, brought them back for me from China," he said.
The navy-matted works on the far wall of the bedroom are from the Basilica of St. Francis in Assisi, Italy, known as the birthplace of St. Francis and St. Clare. The statue of St. Therese of the Little Flower, who was canonized in the 1920s, is a family piece that his dad originally bought for his own mother. The antique cabinet was also his mother's. "That picture of Jesus, my grandfather gave that to my parents as a wedding gift when they were married in 1943," said Father Damien. "Nothing is new here except a table."
“My style of decorating is to do what you like. Don’t do what a magazine or somebody else says. Some people end up doing nothing because they’re so terrified of doing anything.”
Royal Retreat
Father Damien hired Fritz Geffre of Hankinson, ND, for his home's meticulous mosaic tile installation. "All of this mosaic tile comes from Mozaico, which is headquartered in Beirut, with artisans throughout Lebanon and Syria; I've been working with them for 35 years in all my houses," said Father Damien. One of the friends who visits often raises sheep and is a descendant of the French royal family, so Father Damien followed suit, commissioning an extraordinary mosaic of sheep, wheat, and fleur-de-lis design — symbolic of purity, French royalty, and the Blessed Virgin Mary.
The laser-printed crucifix was made in Loretto, Italy, and the decorative tile on the backsplash was handcrafted in Florence, Italy. For his guests, Father Damien also had heated flooring and heated towel racks installed, with tile from Carpet World.
Prayerful Primary
In the primary suite's bedroom and adjoining lounge, Father Damien kept the cherry built-ins, created a headboard icon wall, and divided the large space with two Corinthian columns. He found the columns on Facebook Marketplace; they came from a house that was built around 1910, south of Moorhead. The pillars were too short for the ceilings, so his brother, Valley, altered them with concrete bases that ensured they wouldn't tip, then installed them a half-inch from the ceiling to create the illusion that they were built for the space.
The stained-glass window displayed near the bed is of St. Vincent de Paul, from the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception in Crookston, MN. "Before Jon Norman—my stained- glass guy—retired, he rescued this when nobody wanted it," he added. "So, he made it and gave it to me as a gift. He did my stained- glass windows when I was the pastor at St. Bernards, Oriska, and Holy Trinity in Fingal."
To the left of the bed is a Patron Saint of Farmers, St. Isidore, and Saint Maria de la Cabeza icon that was written by Brother Claude Lane, OSB, and gifted to him by St. Bernard's last year after it closed. The Chinese tapestry was saved from being discarded after his friend, Dr. Eleanor Ritchie, passed away. He considers the 1650 piece to be an important part of Chinese history. Above that is an original 1950s angel embroidery by Sister Mary Luellla Kary, OSB. The empire-style 1860- 1870s clock was a gift his brother Benny found in Manitoba on a custom combining trip 50 years ago.
One of his more meaningful pieces is a painting that was completed by his artist mother, Mary Bolte, of Mount Hood in Oregon. On display, he also has some of her crocheted blankets. "My mother actually invented a new crochet stitch that was published in a crocheting magazine," he said.
The pillars set the stage to display Father Damien's vast collection of ornate chalices and vestments, including his ordination chalice, the Jesuit chalice he salvaged from a junk store in Virginia, and a 1925 vestment from Sts. Peter and Paul Church in Penn, North Dakota. "After the church closed, Bishop Sullivan gave that vestment to me because he knew that I would preserve it," said Father Damien. On the right side of the display are a few collector crystal pieces and several 1950s-2000s Boehm Porcelain sculptures created in Trenton, New Jersey.
Personalized Primary
Father Damien also renovated and downsized the primary bath, removing the room's continuous mirrored glass walls and tub, shifting the shower, and adding walls for optimal function. Here, he custom-designed another handcrafted mosaic work from Syria, with tile installation by Fritz Geffre. Just like the guest bath's design, this design is symbolic of his faith, including dolphins in the typical Roman style, peacocks, which are a sign of hospitality in Indian culture, and the fleur-de-lis representing the Blessed Virgin Mary. His signature blue theme is carried throughout the house by distinct, blue-grained granite that traveled from Texas after his first choice arrived in pieces.
Installed throughout the space and used to camouflage additional pocket doors, Father Damien chose a bold, tropical- themed wallcovering. "I saw this on Wayfair, and I just thought it was fun," said Father Damien. "It's something different. They sent so much of it though, and I didn't want to waste it because it was expensive, so that's why I kept going with it on the other walls. My style of decorating is to do what you like. Don't do what a magazine or somebody else says. Some people end up doing nothing because they're so terrified of doing anything."
The door on the left leads to a private powder room that can be accessed from the main living space and locked off from the primary suite. While the colorful sconce lighting was original to the home, Father Damien added new floor tile in a unique mosaic design that extends to the hallway.
The door on the right leads to a more private, cedar-lined walk- in closet, where Father Damien stores his clerical vestment collection. To the left side of the closet is another pathway marked by an original-condition 1800s door salvaged from a hotel turned museum in southern Minnesota.
Hard Work, Generous Heart
"People always wonder how a priest can afford this. I inherited money from my dad, I invested really well over the years, and I have my social security and pensions," said Father Damien. "It's like I tell my grand nephews and nieces — this stuff didn't just fall into my hands. I worked really hard, but I've also tried to be very generous at the same time." Thousands of others would agree. When Father Damien was Chief of the Chaplain Service at the Minneapolis VA Health Care System, he earned recognition as the 2021 Civil Servant of the Year by the Federal Executive Board of Minnesota — the first time in the history of the VA that a Catholic priest had ever been nominated for the position.
Though Father Damien finds deep joy in preserving, restoring, and living among liturgical and cultural history, he is realistic about its future. Knowing that most of his family will not want to inherit the collection, he has already arranged for its sale — transforming his treasured collection into opportunity. In 2020, Father Damien established the Saint Aelred Scholarship for the education of college-age men for the Diocese of Fargo at the Mount Angel College Seminary in Saint Benedict, Oregon, under the Abbey Foundation of Oregon. Father Damien is forever grateful for the education he received from the Benedictine monks of Mount Angel, which allowed him to be the man that he is. This is his way of giving back.
DESIGN DETAILS:
Construction Management: Father Damien Schill
General Contractor: Darin Keller, Valley Siding & Remodeling
Window Treatments: Kim Stromberg, Fargo Glass & Paint
Custom Mosaic Tile: Mozaico
Tile Install: Fritz Geffre, Geffre Services, LLC Custom Cabinetry Additions: Patrick Foster, NorthStar Cabinets
Flooring: Carpet World
Countertops: Luke Wagner, Northern Stone
Stained Glass Windows: Jon Norman, LightBenders
Custom Outlet Covers: The Iron Guy
Fireplace: Fred Berg, Home & Hearth
Furnishings: Collected antiques, Hom Furniture, Ethan Allen, Furniture Mart
Dishware: Family antiques, Heirlooms
Wallcovering Install: Robert Lindblad, Complete Wallcoverings
Faucets: Lori Holden, Ferguson Home
Smarthome Sound System: Charlie Faruolo, Site on Sound
Painting: David Mosely, Passion Painting
Electrician: JDP Electric
Appliances: Brian Blixt, Karl’s Appliances
Furnace: Laney's
Drywall: C. Anderson Drywall