Apartment Look

Location: London Price: £3.95 million (US$4.5 million) The exclusive cobblestone courtyard known as Turnchapel Mews sits between Clapham Common and Battersea Park in south London. In the mid-19 th  century, the now private and gated mews served as horse stables for the main houses on the surrounding streets.  A charming and quite large apartment there, the five-bedroom No. 8 Turnchapel Mews , occupies the top floor of four terraced mews houses and has a large outdoor terrace (most of the apartment is on one floor, but a small part is on a separate floor). In the 1980s, the acclaimed author Roald Dahl lived just downstairs, according to the listing agents. “From the outside it’s hard to envisage the space within,” said Jake Russell, a director at the London firm of Russell Simpson . “H owever, as soon as you step inside, it opens up into this wonderful, open environment.” “Often, mews houses have smaller proportions than a normal house, with lower ceilings and tighter rooms, bu...

As we put the finishing touches on the plans for our home, our dreams of dinner parties in the finished open kitchen , of repurposed original sconces and refurbished original details , gave way to a less sexy obsession. The mop, the vacuum, our winter coats, the laundry. Specifically: Where would they all go and how could we banish them from sight? In the New York prewar apartments we’d lived in for years, closets were strictly optional and washer-dryers were nonexistent. What made glossy interior photos appealing , I came to realize, was what you didn’t see, because it was tucked into a hidden closet or built-in cabinet. Renovating our house gave us a shot at discreet convenience. Entering the first-floor apartment, pre-renovation, meant coming face -to-face with a faux-wood- grained cabinet door —in actuality, a false front. It was an arguably clever way to bump out the bathroom on the other side to make room for a turquoise jacuzzi-shaped tub. Otto’s initial plan for the enlarged ...

Outdated and inadequate infrastructure along Woodland’s downtown alleys is jeopardizing development . That’s the conclusion of at least one developer and why city planners are compiling information on the potential square footage for businesses along those alleys and the ability to provide sewer, water and electrical power to them. The alleys: Dead Cat and Dog Gone, parallel Main Street east and west loosely between Fifth Street to Cleveland — with some interruptions for storefronts. They’ve been in existence for more than 100 years. In fact, the recent 125th Anniversary of Woodland’s Great Fire noted that the blaze started in Dead Cat Alley near the Opera House. Because of their age coupled with their width, they lack basic infrastructure services . Dead Cat Alley is infrastructurally better than Dog Gone Alley. It’s wider, for one thing at between 25 and 35 feet depending on the location. It has also been upgraded over the years with new power and cable utilities as businesses...

As beautiful as parts of Connecticut are, the state’s landscape will never be mistaken for the mountain ranges of northern New England. However, step onto the property at 2910 Mountain Rd. in Suffield and it’s easy to forget that. Built in 1981, the 6,178-square- foot house features a four-car garage, an in-law apartment, and a 28-by-40-foot barn with solar panels. The house has plenty of updated features, including new kitchen appliances, a new HVAC system, and new roofing. But it’s the nearly 30 acres of land in scenic West Suffield near the Massachusetts border that sets the property apart. Included in that acreage is a professionally landscaped yard with fruit trees, a perennial garden, an invisible fence, an outdoor patio and a gazebo. Situated on a hill overlooking Mountain Road , the front of the yard faces west and features scenic sunsets and views of distant hills. “It’s views of nature at its best,” says agent Sharon Dillon Rispoli of Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices . M...

This 1,410-square-foot apartment in the East Village, owned by sculptor Yvonne Hananel , is the work of the Manhattan- based firm James Wagman Architects . Their client needed a reconfiguration of the interior to improve its “circulation” and increase the livable square footage for studio space. The entire pad got upgraded, then the architect added a custom-designed, open helix staircase not only as the focal point but as a way to open up more floor space. As for the design, Hananel kept it minimalist. “By keeping the walls white and uncluttered, everything from the green leaves of my ficus trees to the colorful books on the shelves stand out in high relief,” she told Houzz. James Wagman Architects , east village, heavy metal" width="669" height="992" /> James Wagman Architects took out the former staircase, an industrial piece made of blackened steel, and replaced it with a tight double helix staircase that would align with the apartment’s fresh desig...

Six years ago, Mike Brown and Casey Lynch stood on Downtown Boise ’s 8th Street and wondered: Why don’t more people live here? Downtown seemed to have everything that a growing percentage of Americans wanted in a place to live. “I mean, there’s all kinds of jobs. There’s a million coffee shops and hair salons and restaurants, and there’s an active street life ,” says Brown, who founded the Los Angeles- based development company LocalConstruct with Lynch in 2008. Casey Lynch, left, and Mike Brown have made their mark in Boise. Provided by LocalConstruct But in 2011, fewer than 4,000 people lived in Downtown’s scattered apartment and condominium buildings and houses. On a typical weekday afternoon , most Downtown workers got in their cars and put the city in the rearview mirror. Brown and Lynch saw an opportunity. They thought Boiseans would trade ample floor space and vaulted ceilings in the suburbs for smaller, high- end Downtown apartments that offered amenities like gyms, a do...

Pricespotter is Curbed's pricing guessing game . How much do you think this place is asking? Drop your guess in the comments, and remember, no cheating! What/Where: 1BR/1BA co-op in the East Village Square Footage: n/a Taxes/Common Charges: $680 There are, as ever, a number of both pros and cons with this East Village co-op. Let’s get the bad stuff out of the way first: It’s a railroad apartment, with a rather narrow (and dark—the only windows overlook another building) living space. It’s also, as best as we can tell, on the fifth floor of a walk-up building. And your closest subway stop would be on the L, to give you some clue as to where it’s located. (Let’s just say it’s solidly within what you’d call Alphabet City .) Now, for the positives: The space doesn’t feel too claustrophobic thanks to a recent renovation, which brought in a new, modern kitchen, high-end appliances, and other nice touches. (The bathroom has radiant heated floors , for example.) The bedroom is large a...

Living in an apartment with your canine companion isn ’t much different from living with a human roommate: They don't clean, they don’t pay for groceries and you're starting to suspect they don't even have a job. But canine roommates present additional , unique challenges. Arguably the biggest challenge for dog owners in apartments is having to escort their furry friend outside for all exercise — and all bathroom — breaks. That means rain, shine, sleet, snow, 6 a.m. or 3 a.m. or 11:30 p.m. — buddy, you’ve got to put on your pants. The Luxurious Lifestyle of New York's Poshest Pooches "If you’re living in an apartment with a dog, first and foremost the onus is more on you to get the dog out for all of his or her needs," says Mike Kaviani. Kaviani is the Director of Lifesaving Operations at the no- kill shelter Austin Pets Alive ! in Austin, Texas, and he says apartment living can in some cases actually benefit your pup. "As long as the owner is committed t...