House or this kind of a loft?

[JoetheLion]

What would you prefer? A house or this kind of a loft? This article gave me a new perspective on lofts and houses. In fact, I don't want a house anymore (my parents always tell my how a house is a thing I MUST have one day). I would feel obliged to take care of the garden and other stuff around the house and I really don't have time to do that. My current apartment is small and I am renting one room to my friend, but when I look at the lofts from that article, I am filled with envy. I mean, look at that SPACE. And there are no unnecessary walls. In fact it feels like you "only" have to find a good unfurnished place (and perhaps never used for living).
One Toronto contemporary artist - Charles Pachter has a house that was partly an old factory. So maybe that's the way how to do it. Find an older building which is not in use, but also not in a desolate state and rebuild it. Sigh, I should stop daydreaming in work.

Anyway, I especially liked this one. Except for the paintings that look more like some colour samples than an art to me.

 

[Cuda1447]

I like the art work in the last link.

 

[Vdubchaos]

Loft is just another name for an apartment. Mostly applies to old factory buildings that were converted to apartments.

House vs Apartments, they both have pros and cons.

 

[K1052]

Loft.

Houses are time and money pits. I'd honestly rather set a pile of money on fire than buy a house.

 

[BurnItDwn]

Those lofts look nice, but, I like my house. I hate shared walls or floors or ceilings. I like having a basement. I like having a big deck with a grill and a table and room for 10 people. I like the back yard with a garden. I also HATE having to use a parking lot. I wish I had a garage, but I'm ok with having my own driveway where I can park 4 or 5 cars and not have anybody trying to tow them away.

 

[Tweak155]

I'd like a loft on a plot of land where a house should be. Done.

 

[Red Squirrel]

How about a house that looks like one of those lofts. Or a fixerupper and you can make it look like that yourself. In the end at least you own it, and don't have shared walls.

 

[blackangst1]

I would love a loft with a nice view; however, theater is a main hobby of mine, and unless nearby neighbors/business occupants could stand reference level sound coming from my place, its out of the question

 

[Ns1]

want loft soooo bad.

 

[DrPizza]

For me, it depends on what's outside the house or loft. That one picture of the neat looking house nestled between two other brick houses? Shudder.

 

[fralexandr]

are you sure you wouldn't just rather live in a condo/townhome?
it's like living in and owning a house, but the hoa usually takes care of gardening/landscaping .
but then you might have to deal with some of the problems of living in a home owner's association.

there are usually loft-style condos for sale near the busy commercial areas in the bigger cities, due to the higher density buildings, better space management (no wasted space and money spent making predefined rooms and walls), and modern/minimalistic styling.

whereas condos/townhomes in residential areas are usually more house like, and may even be seperate freestanding structures.

I like houses, particularly the seperate walls and sort of the not having hoa problems. Why not make a loft style house by knocking down all those non-support walls?
though some commercial multifamily housings (usually newer ones with common spaces that feel sort of higher end hotel-like) have ridiculously nice sound dampening and feel pretty upscale.

going from industrial zoned property to living space would likely require a permit from the city.

 

[SolMiester]

All of them just look cold and uninviting to me....

 

[JoetheLion]

are you sure you wouldn't just rather live in a condo/townhome?

For me a townhouse is a combination of the both worst features of a house and condo. If I wanted to have a house, I would want a garden and the place to be detached. If wanted a apartment, I wouldn't want it on the ground level or with several squeezed levels. Plus usually townhouses are situated on very busy and noisy locations.

 

[MiniDoom]

depends if you have kids/room mates our live alone. If I was alone or just lived with a gf, loft would be nice. If you have kids or loud room mates, loft would be out of the question. Noise travels way too much in open spaces.

 

[drebo]

If you live alone and are a hipster, a loft is fine.

If you don't live alone or aren't a hipster, then a house is probably a better idea.

So, do you own a pair of red pants? If so, you're probably fine for a loft.

 

[JoetheLion]

You know what my problem with a house is? My parents live in a house, they bought it when I was already at the university, but I lived at home since the school wasn't far. And my mother was always fanatic into flowers, plants and gardening stuff. They still have several hundred plants at home. Most of them indoors. Thing is, that even when my mom was in a good shape, she wasn't able to take care of all the plants by herself and I don't mean only watering. So I had to help a lot. and For last 10 years she's in a bad shape, unable to do much. Father was (and is) always working. So it was my duty to take care of the house and the plants. So basically, if somebody would put before me this kind of a to-do list I would say "hell no" and run as far as possible.

 

[Legios]

You dont really build lofts new, you turn old unused spaces into Lofts. For this reason most lofts are urban unless you do a rural hayloft conversion. As far as to do list, of course there is common everyday maintenance for a house inside and out but dont turn it into a jungle and it shouldnt overwhelm you.

 

[JoetheLion]

You dont really build lofts new, you turn old unused spaces into Lofts. For this reason most lofts are urban unless you do a rural hayloft conversion. As far as to do list, of course there is common everyday maintenance for a house inside and out but dont turn it into a jungle and it shouldnt overwhelm you.

I think I have a phobia. Is there a phobia of housework?

 

[JM Aggie08]

I enjoy maintaining a lawn and a small garden...that, and I hate living in busy areas/centers of the city.

 

[Legios]

I think I have a phobia. Is there a phobia of housework?

Its called being lazy. Even in a loft you would have this housework.

 

[_Rick_]

While I like the liberty that a loft expresses, I do at times feel the need to physically compartmentalize my life. Currently, having a bedroom and a separate living room is quite nice, as it allows me to remove myself from the day-to-day stress physically, just by retiring to my room. In a loft, you don't have that, because ideally everything, except for the toilet, is an open space.
On the other hand, a house is (at least for the moment) too much commitment for me - and I don't have any need for the extra space that comes with it, while the overhead would be awkward. So my preference is with the loft, given this choice, but realistically I would probably stick to a well divided apartment in a traditional but modernized city-villa.
I'm the minimalistic type though, so I really only ever want just as much space and rooms as I feel I need. And at times even settle for less than for more.

I'll still dream about the open loft on the fourth floor in an formerly out-of-town industrial estate, with windows almost all around, no neighbors, except some offices and a garage below, the next building around a 100 meters away, a large, open balcony, off to one side a recreational area with a park and river....

 

[JTsyo]

All of them just look cold and uninviting to me....

yea, very industrial. I prefer a cozy feeling for my home.

 

[IronWing]

If I were living in town, a loft with parking would be okay. The lofts in the OP likely cost 3x what any house I am likely to own would cost so I think comparing equally priced properties would be a factor.

 

[Zeze]

Loft by definition means modern open concept with 2 floors with 1 ceiling.

They also generally refer to renovated mills and factories.

 

[CZroe]

Loft by definition means modern open concept with 2 floors with 1 ceiling.

They also generally refer to renovated mills and factories.

Yep. The lofts Ichinisan lives in were once an old cotton mill. His unit is one giant room except for a bathroom and wash room in two corners (also serve as closets). You can use a ladder to make use of the space above them and look down into the rest of the area.

My 16x16x16 accessory building came with an open loft that we turned into a second floor with drop-down stairs. It originally only covered half of the bottom floor.