about sanctum
Anna Housman
owner/artist/visionary
Anna is a former pediatric speech-language therapist. During her 11 years in the field, she worked with hundreds of children, specialized in orofacial myofuctional disorders, mentored multiple graduates and new clinicians, and even taught briefly at UNC-Chapel Hill. She spent the latter part of her career serving as a director of Marketing and PR for a local clinic.
Sanctum had been a long-time dream of Anna’s. It morphed and changed over time, but the core vision has remained the same.
In 2023, after years of living in Oxford and feeling like something special was just around the corner, Anna decided that that something special might just come from her! With the encouragement of her family and friends, she started looking for a building to become home to her pottery studio and a coffee/wine bar, and started planning her exit from speech therapy. She wanted to see more people engage in art, have a place to create, and to be able to share quality beverages in a cozy environment. When she toured “the church,” that was it. She was sold.
Early in the project, Anna invited a friend and chef to join her as a partner, and the vision for Sanctum expanded to incorporate a full kitchen. Ultimately, this partnership did not last long enough to see Sanctum open, but his early involvement contributed to some of the vision expansion and to the early construction and renovation of the space.
Sanctum is set to open in late 2025, after many delays. Taking on roughly 2,500 square feet of historic but vacant property isn’t for the faint of heart and takes time! Anna is looking forward to sharing this beautiful, and lovingly restored building with Oxford.
Welcome to Sanctum
Sanctum was originally built in 1955 as St. Catherine of Siena Catholic Church.
It was the first Catholic Church in Granville County. Eventually, the church relocated to a larger building in Henderson. The building was deconsecrated, meaning that anything of religious relevance was removed and the Catholic’s no longer consider it a “church.”
Over the years, several other denominations used the building as their church. Eventually, the building was foreclosed on and left in disrepair. A bank purchased the building and neighboring lot, with plans to tear the building down and build a new bank branch. Through the incredible efforts of the Oxford community, the building was ultimately saved – but still left vacant.
In 2023, St. Catherine’s was purchased by Anna Housman. The building was added to the national historic registry and is now a historically protected and valued building.
