Jerry and I had personally seen about a dozen lofts and apartments over the summer of 2012. And a Zillow search for downtown listings had become just as ordinary to me as checking my e-mail, taking a look at Facebook or pinning my favorite things on Pinterest.
During our search for our future home, one thing became clear to us: the vast majority of the lofts downtown had been converted from old warehouses and commercial spaces. So most of the floor plans were pretty similar; long and skinny, with kitchen and living space on the front part of the apartment, and bedrooms on the back… with NO windows. So I wasn't really feeling it! If you know me you know that I LOVE light. I turn lights on even during the morning on a sunny day. The more light the better. You can see how it would be difficult for me to compromise on that feature. And Jerry wasn't really keen on the dungeonesque bedrooms either.
Another thing about those old warehouses is character. And character means beautiful old twisted wood beams. Beautiful old twisted wood beams means that you're lucky if any part of your floor is level, and EVERY inch of it creaks.
During our search for our future home, one thing became clear to us: the vast majority of the lofts downtown had been converted from old warehouses and commercial spaces. So most of the floor plans were pretty similar; long and skinny, with kitchen and living space on the front part of the apartment, and bedrooms on the back… with NO windows. So I wasn't really feeling it! If you know me you know that I LOVE light. I turn lights on even during the morning on a sunny day. The more light the better. You can see how it would be difficult for me to compromise on that feature. And Jerry wasn't really keen on the dungeonesque bedrooms either.
Another thing about those old warehouses is character. And character means beautiful old twisted wood beams. Beautiful old twisted wood beams means that you're lucky if any part of your floor is level, and EVERY inch of it creaks.
So as soon as we walked into the unit on the Pembroke, I knew! The first thing we noticed was how much light was coming in throughout these beautiful massive windows! And the bedroom had massive windows too! That's right, the bedroom, singular. Even though we really wanted at least 2 bedrooms, we decided to check this one bedroom unit out because the square footage was decent and we hoped maybe we could fit a second bedroom in there somehow. Well, what a pleasant surprise we had when the listing realtor told us that this used to be a 2 bedroom apartment that had been converted into a 1 bedroom back in 2006. So converting it back shouldn't be a problem.
The second thing we noticed was how really solid the construction felt. It's like the place had good bones. No creaking or squeaking floors! And then the very next thing that caught our attention was how outdated everything looked. From the "popcorn on steroids" ceilings, to the ugly light fixtures, boring paint color, dated door knobs…the list goes on and on. But I'm so glad both of us were able to see pass all that because, besides the perfect location, the deeded parking spaces in the building and a rooftop swimming pool (!!!), the place had one more very important feature: it had potential!!! So we went for it and we got it!
The second thing we noticed was how really solid the construction felt. It's like the place had good bones. No creaking or squeaking floors! And then the very next thing that caught our attention was how outdated everything looked. From the "popcorn on steroids" ceilings, to the ugly light fixtures, boring paint color, dated door knobs…the list goes on and on. But I'm so glad both of us were able to see pass all that because, besides the perfect location, the deeded parking spaces in the building and a rooftop swimming pool (!!!), the place had one more very important feature: it had potential!!! So we went for it and we got it!
Here is what it looked like when we first saw it:
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