I'm sorry but, "Once upon a midnight dreary..."

wow. serious window envy right now.

I read the article a couple of days ago when it first appeared in the NYTimes.
Sorry, but other than these amazing windows, this place is cluttered and looks like it needs a good scrubbing.
and for reasons that would be inapprorpriate to go into here, this guy just puts me right off.

Such a waste of a great space. So much could be done without spending a lot.

in agreement with cathie on all of it.

First thought: "Ew."

Thought after reading the NYTimes article: "Ew ew ew."

so the rent is so cheap because...? I am confused.

What's so objectionable about this guy? I'm intrigued by his stories of living in the place for so long. Ok, he seems a little pretentious, but then that's probably what attracted the NY Times to him. I like the bedroom. Everything else is so disappointing, considering the apartment's location and its potential. Every item in the living room, gross... office, very gross. Kitchen, ugly.

sooo jealous.....

Nice rent. Must make his landlord sick.

little bit creepy-but wow what someone with taste could do in there..

PS I hope the 2nd last photo above is not the tasteful grey office..

What was so creepy about this guy?
Also, his place isn't that bad
Just because it doesn't look like every other cliche apartment on this website doesn't mean it doesn't lend a unique aesthetic. I think it looks cozy. If I lived there, sure I would make some changes but this is a glimpse into his style and not every one has the same desires for their home.

$500 (or about $2,000 adjusted using CPI) per month in rent would not have been "cheap" in 1975 considering there were apartments (albeit smaller and further West) available for that price in the then undesirable West Village well into the 1980's. Mr. Hinman is getting a much better deal now.

I read this article when it first appeared -- such hyperbole! That area was never as bad/danderous as he says it was -- a friend of mine lives around the corner and I have been going there since '76.

It's an amazing space -- but it's not living up to its potential.

He sounds like a hippie stuck in time. The place doesn't have to be a cliche, but it should at least be CLEAN. I would have to dive into a vat of Purell after visiting that place!

Very genuine... especially the office...that is the way a writer should live..

$1291 a month?! I pay more for a teeny tiny one bedroom in Park Slope... oi vey...

Am I missing something? While he does describe some grody previous levels of cleanliness, the place looks fine now. His office is cluttered but it doesn't seem unclean. I do agree that other than the great windows the rest (and the low rent) of the place is pretty 'meh'.

@Cathie: you hit it on the nose.

I know I'm being judgmental, but I couldn't help thinking, "Why does that old man have a baby?"

Waaaaay off topic, I know. Sorry.

Wow, such envy and prudishness. Way to judge someone you've never met!

I like his space. It's not perfect, but it's a legitimate loft (unlike a lot of spaces with the "loft" label) and it's seen a lot of history.

just remember the title of the article is "Cheap Rent & Great Architecture in NoHo" not "LOOK AT THIS DUDE'S AMMMAAAZING DECORATING SKILLS"

so i just concentrated on that.

with that said:
if I were to concentrate on his decorating...that horrible green carpet in the bedroom made my feet sad.

People probably think he looks creepy, because his loft is, and it also looks dirty. That window is gorgeous, and that green paint is hideous. Just an all around bad vibe.

absea--

If you know going in you are being judgmental, and "waaay off topic" then, um, perhaps reconsider what you are posting.

And god only knows the fury that would be unleashed around here if someone had made that same exact comment about a *woman*... sheee-eeez.

It has been said politely by some others here, but it needs underscoring. Please spare the rest of us your judgmental comments about parental age. How wonderful to see a happy, healthy family; how sad to be reminded that there are still people out there who think this way.

I think most of the commenters here forgot that this was in the "REAL ESTATE" section...not the STYLE section.

Not everyone lives their lives around style and design.....
more people live like these two than people whose homes are featured here on AT...as well as all the other magazines that are linked or mentioned here.

So it is not your taste...or way of living....but for crying out loud....these people can live however they choose....and I'm sure they could give a damn what any of us might think.

I agree with piro and eastlaker. It's a very genuine-looking space, very loft-like and what I'd expect a writer's residence to look like. (I know a lot of writers and most of their houses are unkempt piles of books and papers everywhere, half-empty containers of food littering the horizontal surfaces, which are all made of particle-board, and there's no inkling that coffee could be made in the kitchen instead of going out to the nearest deli for it.) It looks perfectly clean, too. I don't know where the stuff about its looking dirty is coming from.

I also don't understand the "ew" in terms of the guy and his wife; he's 57 and she's 42, so there are 15 years between them, not 30 or 40. She's not a chippie, she's a woman over forty who waited to have a kid, THAT'S what a guy that age is doing with a baby. He looks pretty spry, too.

The only thing I don't like is the kitchen cabinets not having pulls; I hate the pull-less cabinets that came with my house and want to replace them as soon as I can. I like classic window-sash pulls and think they'd go well in a kitchen like that (which is clearly Ikea--so it's not like they bought super-pricey Italian cabinets or anything). I like the rest of the place, especially the bedroom, study (really, this is NEAT for a writer's study) and living/dining room. The windows are envy-inducing, definitely. :wants:

Yes, while this was originally posted in the Real Estate section of a publication, it has now been re-posted here, on an interior design website - so, it is not unreasonable to see comments regarding the decor/lack thereof of this home.

The article says it best: "But the 2,500-square-foot apartment, for which they pay $1,291 a month, is still very much a bachelor pad." That's all this really looks like to me.

I'm glad the images aren't scratch and sniff.

kcturl - that's an interesting comment from someone who wrote this about another house tour:

"I thought the idea of viewing other people's homes was to possibly find inspiration or appreciate a new way of looking at things and how others live. All I see are a bunch of wannabe critics/designers painfully picking apart someone elses design sense. If it's not for you, move on. Open forum or not, nobody cares about your nasty critique but you."

I liked it--considering what messy dumps have been featured on AT as House Tours, I don't see why this place gets so much grief.

But why repost the NYT? Why not call the guy up and get a new angle?

I had to think carefully about whether to comment on this or not. Overlooking whether this reflects my own taste or not, I think that if the New York Times comes to photograph your home, a bit of hyper tidying is in order. The fact that they obviously did not makes it clear they do not care what others think of their home. I guess the only point of this type of article is to be "porno" to other New Yorkers who can only manage to acquire an apartment the size of this gentleman's broom closet for double the $$$. And that child's parents will be 59 and 74 when he graduates high school. :(

Those windows are gorgeous! What I could do with that space. . .

Hmm. I expected it to be more of a dump from the comments. It does have the look of a place that has been lived in by the same person for a long time. But it isn't THAT bad.

I know space is at a premium in NYC, and that the vastness of this apartment vs. its cost is the primary hook to the article. (That, and the "older guy with young child" angle, which seems to elicit pretty strong reactions.) Because there is nothing really special about the choices the owner has made to the place, and there isn't really a need for clever space-saving solutions in an apartment that large, I think it's sort of a waste to post it here on AT.

This is a really, really, really weird thread. Like, confusing, Twilight Zone weird. First of all, how many times has AT posted photos of lived-in, "homey" (cluttered) apartments? And how many times have people said, "I love it! It's so real! It looks like a family lives here! Invite me over for hot chocolate!"? So I'm a little confused over the above comments. What exactly is wrong with this place (aside from the jealousy-inducing low rent)? The article mentions that it used to be a dump, yes, but it also describes quite thoroughly how it's been cleaned up over the years (including a month long child-proofing project). So....... what up? I get that it's not some uber trendy MCM masterpiece, but it certainly isn't a disgusting pigsty! It surely doesn't require a dousing of Purell! As for the gentleman's age, WHO CARES??? There are lots of older parents out there, especially in nonjudgmental big cities LIKE NEW YORK. Look at DAVID LETTERMAN. So what's the problem with this poor guy? I had to read the article twice to try to figure out what about this guy was so objectionable. Long story short, I'm still scratching my head. He just seems like a nice guy with a big apartment and cheap rent. I'm glad for him that he found a wife who helped him clean up his act. And now he's a dad! Nice story, happy ending, yippeee. Seriously, am I missing something?

Freightening how some people have unconditional ideas about how we should live our lives: how old we should be when having a child, how many times we should scrub the floor, how cluttered our desk is allowed to be... Everyone who doesn't fit in that perfect picture is slaughtered. I hope these judgmental commenters are under age. I also hope that 'the guy' isn't reading AT - when I saw that extremely cluttered desk, I thought: 'What an interesting man'.

Wow! Those windows are amazing.

creative license -- thanks for your post! I couldn't agree more!

As for the space, it seems to be a wonderful space. And l love the sofa.

Huge windows, no double-glazing... it must be freezing in there during winter!!

mschatelaine, I love the sofa too!

Ive been in this office and building back in the early 90's. Ew is one of the words.... Elevator felt like the Flinstone's with the dinosaur and pulley. The stairs and floors felt like you could fall through them at any time- Im not surprised the sink fell through the floor. I hope he had the ceiling reinforce in case something drops in on him.

I never saw the whole place but you could see the windows from the other side. Its not a humungous space but just right. His office was a disaster, piles of stuff all over. Definitey not designer but compared to what I recall - this is so cleaned up. He has got new wood floors in the kitchen and in the front under that green carpet. Those used to be worn out wood strips that were split and soooooo dirty, they were so damaged they couldnt be refinished.

Broadway has always been a strip but the neighborhood was very touch and go for a while. After dark this was a very different world. Plenty of drug dealers still hung out on Great Jones St. into the early 90's- Visiting and living are two different things one block makes a huge difference. Broadway used to be deserted at night and still is to some degree. The only people you would see walking down that way was to go to the train on Houston or Prince. Only the adventurous dared to move and stay and for some it paid off.

PS I think people got grossed out over the pizza joke.

Geez, so much judgement. People are right to point out that this is about the PROPERTY... not the decor. And the property is amazing.

The guy admits he is no decorator, but the decor has some nice things going for it. It looks real, and lived in. I like the 40s Chinese Art Deco rug in the living room. And the Chesterfield sofa is great.

Frankly, this living room is more interesting than 90% of the spaces featured on AT. Why? It is personal. No Eames chair in sight! No "Keep Calm" poster (oh, right, that was sooo 2008).

For those of you who were creeped out by the pizza remark... get over yourselves. If your neighbors were having orgies, you'd watch too. And it was the 70s. I realize many of you don't remember that time... but the concept of group sex was a bit different then. (Really, it was.) Some day I hope you'll grow up and appreciate the different experiences and perspectives we all have. At least those of us who've actually lived... instead of sitting on the sidelines judging everyone else.

Stop being so small minded.

I find it a riot that those who are saying the rest of us are so judgemental, are being so judgemental!!!

Dirty and dreary.

1291 a month!!!! *sigh* don't dig the decor, but very, very jealous.

Dismal. The definitely get the creep factor after reading the article.

Oops...I meant to say, I definitely.

When I first moved to NYC in the mid 90s that's what NY lofts looked like if you went to visit an artist's home. Artists didn't spend a whole lot of money on decoration and renovation since they didn't have any. Also, the obsession with home design didn't exist in all the levels of society as it does today. People seem to be more focused on material and "external" today regardless of how much money they make.

One a personal note, I bet I can have a more interesting conversation with this couple than with most people whose homes are featured here.

BTW, Minanina is spot on about Broadway in the 70s.

is it me or the place looks so dark, messy and dirty? (bedrooms and study room)....so ...intense .....

living room is very nice though....it has style :)

I love that sofa! If he were my husband those huge piles of paper would be long gone.

I'm also not sure what the negative fuss is about. I thought the article was interesting and the space has a story. The design is not ground breaking, but not horrible either. And not filthy!! Yes, some things have been modernized, but some things have not. The couple have picked their battles.
And who are we kidding - that space would be amazing to live in!

For those creeped out by the orgy/peeping tom aspect: I hear from NYC natives that New York was way more 'hedonistic' than us newcomers realize. And seriously, what guy wouldn't be watching an orgy from his apartment and trying to think of a way to get in!

I guess I'm the odd man out, but I really like this place, especially the living room. I'd kill for that couch, and I like the living room rug all the plants by the window. The place may have formerly been dirty, but it looks perfectly clean now. The office is a bit cluttered, but I've seen much, much worse. And I pay about the same for a boxy apartment in Hollywood, so I can appreciate what a great deal the rent is. I say good for them!

I have to say I am disappointed to read so many personal attacks on what, until now I considered a great outlet for creative people to discuss design. I don't find this man particularly extraordinary- not especially depraved or arrogant or boastful. He is lucky enough to have a rent controlled apartment, a lovely wife and baby, and a willingness to share his home. Seems fine so far. I won't even address someone ridiculous enough to comment on someone's age and whether or not they should have children. (Really??? Not your concern, I think)
Do I think it is inspiring in a design sense? Not at all. And perhaps that is AT mistake to feature his apartment. But it is a real New York story. I don't get the hate. . .

agreed: this is a real new york story. $500 for that amount of space in that time was very, very cheap. the 'hood was not that bad, either; the bldg had nyu to the west & an atm up the street--there were NO atm's east of that one--when atm's were less common. the owner & tenant both agreed to the illegal occupancy, so no services or sympathy s/b expected. thank a series of lux-oriented politicos for changing zoning to make the occupancy legal & wonder where the jobs are to pay for that, now that manufacturing spaces seems to be turning into lux res everywhere. is the unit rent-stabilized?
the better question: why, is this nyt story linked here? shouldn't someone post the unit with an orientation towards the tenant's style or innovation? aren't we looking for ideas to use or admire? they may exist, but neither the story nor the pics really highlight the design, and a floor plan would be nice.

I think this place is freakin' awesome! I love that he's lived there so long and has such stories to tell.

Thanks for sharing!