In 2013, a Charlotte TV station needed a helicopter just to photograph a house. Not because the owner was a movie star hiding behind a canyon estate, but because 19 wooded acres outside Waxhaw, North Carolina, were so thoroughly screened by trees and gates that no ground-level camera could get near it. The owner was Steven Furtick, a 33-year-old pastor whose church had grown from 14 people to a multi-campus operation in eight years.
That single detail is why the Steven Furtick house became a national story instead of a local curiosity: it turned an abstract question — how much should a pastor’s lifestyle cost — into a concrete, photographed argument. More than a decade later, the underlying facts are still better documented than most celebrity real estate, thanks to actual investigative reporting rather than guesswork.
Quick Facts About Steven Furtick
| Detail | Info |
| Full Name | Larry Stevens Furtick Jr. |
| Date of Birth | February 19, 1980 — Moncks Corner, South Carolina |
| Education | B.A., North Greenville University; Master of Divinity, Southern Baptist Theological Seminary |
| Founded Elevation Church | 2006, starting with 14 members |
| Role | Founder and lead pastor, Elevation Church (Charlotte, NC) |
| Wife | Holly Furtick, married 2002 |
| Children | 3 — Elijah, Graham, and Abbey |
| House Location | Waxhaw area, Union County, North Carolina (built 2013–2014) |
| House Cost at Build | About $1.7 million total — $325,000 for the land plus roughly $1.37 million in construction |
| House Size | 16,000 sq ft total structure; approximately 8,400 sq ft of heated living space |
| Net Worth | Estimates range from $10 million to over $100 million depending on the source — no single figure is confirmed |
Who Is Steven Furtick?
Steven Furtick founded Elevation Church in Charlotte, North Carolina, in 2006 with a launch team of 14 people. Within about eight years,s the church had grown into one of the fastest-growing congregations in the country, and Furtick had become a bestselling author, with books like Greater and Crash the Chatterbox regularly hitting the New York Times list. He’s also a Grammy-nominated songwriter through Elevation Worship, the church’s music ministry, which has produced hits including “The Blessing” and “Graves into Gardens.”
That rapid growth — in both church size and personal profile — is the backdrop for the house controversy. Furtick went from an unknown church planter to a nationally recognized, occasionally polarizing figure in less than a decade, and his home construction happened to land right in the middle of that transition.
1. The Steven Furtick House in Waxhaw, North Carolina
Location: Waxhaw area, Union County, North Carolina (exact address intentionally not published)
Purchase Price: $325,000 for the 19-acre lot (2013), plus roughly $1.37 million in construction — about $1.7 million total
Size: 16,000 sq ft total structure; approximately 8,400 sq ft of heated living space, with 5 bedrooms and 7 bathrooms
Status: Current residence, built 2013–2014
The Land, the Build, and the Helicopter
According to Christianity Today’s 2013 reporting, which drew on original Charlotte Observer coverage, Furtick paid $325,000 for the 19-acre lot and built a home with a permitted contract value of roughly $1.6 million — a total structure of 16,000 square feet, 8,400 of it heated. Elevation’s then-chief financial officer, James “Chunks” Corbett, told the Observer the house was “not tied to the church in any way,” saying it was financed through advances and royalties from Furtick’s bestselling book Greater. Furtick addressed the scrutiny directly in a sermon: “I didn’t even build that house with money from the church. I built it with money from my books.”
The size of the lot is also why a local news helicopter became part of the story. As MinistryWatch’s original 2013 reporting (originally published by WORLD magazine) put it, the property sits on a 19-acre lot “surrounded by gated communities and similarly sized mansions, posted with no trespassing signs: A helicopter is the only way to get close enough to see it.”
Who Actually Owns the House
One detail that’s often skipped over: Furtick’s home isn’t held in his own name. According to a later MinistryWatch investigation into pastor housing nationwide, a trust created by Corbett, Elevation’s CFO, owns the property— a common structure for high-profile pastors’ homes. That same report found the property’s tax-assessed value had grown to $3,915,700 by 2021, roughly eight years after the original $1.7 million build — useful context for anyone assuming the property is still valued at its 2013 construction cost.
Key Features:
- 19-acre wooded lot bought for $325,000 in 2013, near Waxhaw in Union County, NC
- 16,000 sq ft total structure (8,400 sq ft heated), 5 bedrooms, 7 bathrooms
- Total build cost of roughly $1.7 million, according to Charlotte Observer reporting cited by Christianity Today
- Owned through a trust created by Elevation Church’s CFO, not in Furtick’s personal name
- Tax-assessed value had grown to $3,915,700 by 2021, per MinistryWatch
The Net Worth Numbers Circulating Online Don’t Agree
Unlike the house’s construction cost, which traces back to specific reporting and a named church official, Furtick’s personal net worth has no single reliable figure behind it:
- Estimates found across different sites: $10 million, $50–60 million, $50–70 million, $50–90 million, and $100 million+ — a range spanning an order of magnitude
- Elevation Church has confirmed only that an outside Board of Overseers sets Furtick’s salary, made up of other megachurch pastors, and that he does not vote on his own pay — the actual figure has never been disclosed.
- What is documented: Elevation’s overall annual revenue has been reported above $100 million in recent years, and the church has said personnel costs run below the national average for churches its size
Why this matters here: The house’s cost is unusually well-documented for a public figure’s home. His overall net worth is not — and this article doesn’t manufacture a false sense of precision by picking one of the many competing guesses.
Complete Property Overview
| Property | Location | Status | Price |
| Primary residence | Waxhaw area, Union County, NC | Current residence (built 2013–2014) | ~$1.7M at build; $3.9M assessed (2021) |
What the Furtick House Controversy Says About Megachurch Transparency
The Furtick story became a template that other megachurch pastors’ homes have since followed: a large property, financed through book royalties or speaking fees rather than a disclosed salary, held through a trust or corporate structure rather than the pastor’s own name, on land large enough that basic visibility becomes part of the story. None of that makes the funding claims false — Corbett’s explanation to the Charlotte Observer has held up over more than a decade without a contradicting record surfacing.
What it does show is how little outside verification exists for claims like this, even when they’re plausible. A pastor’s salary, unlike a public company executive’s, generally isn’t filed anywhere a journalist can check it. That gap between “plausible” and “verified” is exactly where the debate over pastoral wealth keeps landing, regardless of any individual case’s specifics.
Conclusion
The Steven Furtick house is one of the more thoroughly documented pastor’s-home stories out there, thanks to real investigative reporting from the Charlotte Observer, Christianity Today, and MinistryWatch rather than speculation. The land cost $325,000, the build cost roughly $1.7 million, and by 2021 the county had it assessed at nearly $3.9 million — all traceable to named sources. What isn’t documented, and what this article won’t pretend to know, is Furtick’s actual salary or a precise current net worth. Those numbers remain exactly as unconfirmed today as they were in 2013.
Frequently Asked Questions
Where is Steven Furtick’s house?
It’s in the Waxhaw area of Union County, North Carolina, about 25 miles south of Charlotte. This article doesn’t publish the exact address.
Where does Steven Furtick live?
Steven Furtick lives in the Waxhaw area of Union County, North Carolina, about 25 miles south of Charlotte, in a home he and his wife Holly built in 2013–2014. The exact address has never been publicly confirmed and isn’t published here.
How much did Steven Furtick’s house cost?
About $1.7 million total at completion in 2013–2014: $325,000 for the 19-acre lot plus roughly $1.37 million in construction, according to Charlotte Observer reporting.
Who paid for Steven Furtick’s house?
Furtick and Elevation Church’s CFO both said it was financed through book advances and royalties, not church funds. No church-fund contradiction has surfaced since.
Does Steven Furtick own the house personally?
No — property records show it’s held through a trust created by Elevation’s chief financial officer, a common arrangement for high-profile pastors’ homes.
What is Steven Furtick’s net worth?
There’s no confirmed figure. Public estimates range anywhere from $10 million to over $100 million depending on the source.
Also Read
- Tony Hinchcliffe House: Austin Home, Facts vs. Rumors
- Jason Kelce House: Inside His Haverford, PA Family Estate
- Forrest Frank House: Inside His Waco, Texas Home
- Stevie Nicks House: Fact vs. Fiction on Her Homes
This article was researched and written by the GlamHomeGuide editorial team using publicly available information from verified sources, including Christianity Today, MinistryWatch, and the reporting they cite from The Charlotte Observer. All property values are approximate and based on publicly reported figures, which vary by source — Steven Furtick’s exact current salary and net worth have not been independently confirmed by any source, including this one. GlamHomeGuide is not affiliated with Steven Furtick, Elevation Church, or any of their representatives.