Grace, a restaurant in the historic Chestnut Street Church.

The 152-year-old Chestnut Street Church in Portland, which is currently being rehabilitated into an upscale restaurant, is one of those architectural masters that stir up strong reactions.

The brick-and-brownstone Gothic Revival church was designed to awe its occupants and reinforce their faith: Soaring wooden arches leap down its long sanctuary to an ornate, white altar meant to be a replica of the church façade, but rather resembles a wedding cake for giants. Light seeps into the church through a series of stained-glass windows shaped like spears, and a massive rose window imported from Florence in the mid-1800s glows above the church's main doorway.

Photo 67, Sept 2011