Name: Joe Locher
Location: Milwaukee
Size: Two spaces, 3,000 sq ft each
Years lived/worked in: 1 year
What do you get when you take three creative artists, an old cream city brick hardware company building, abandoned industrial hardware, redwood forest scrap wood and passion for design? You get an amazing work-live space that inspires more of the creativity that built it. Joe Locher, founder of the "anti-agency" Yes Men is launching a fresh venture and designed a new space in which to house it, in collaboration with tenant woodwork artists Jordan Waraksa and Joe Wagner.
The Pritzlaff Building in Milwaukee's third ward district dates back to the mid-1800s and is a classic example of the cream city brick warehouse that the city is known for. Pritzlaff once housed the Midwest's largest hardware distributor and sits in a highly accessible spot on the river downtown. The building now houses a 2,300 sq ft woodworking studio, and two work-live spaces (one upstairs, one downstairs) the homes of Lyrical and The Ancient Tree Underground - new business ventures being launched by the building owner and his talented tenants.
Industrial loft spaces are well known for their layout challenges; the flip side of all that luxurious square footage and open space. Joe has tackled that challenge by piecing together discarded warehouse windows to form interior walls, and he has filled the space with furniture and other items that have a certain heft or presence. But what is most striking about the place is the combination of influences. Joe has employed a unique blend of mid-century pieces, retro desks, fans and vintage cars with Zen-like Japanese-inspired bamboo screens ... all complemented by shelving made from redwood forest scraps, coerced into shape by Waraksa. To top it all off? How about an absinthe bar? It would be baffling if it wasn't so bold and beautiful. In the end, it makes you grin at the sheer ambition of it all.
Of course, the danger of getting caught up in the scale of things is that you might miss the details. In the downstairs loft, posters grace the wall behind a 1950s metal desk. At first glance, they appear to be enlarged bank notes. A second look reveals the faces not of former presidents, but of characters from The Godfather. In the upstairs space, a golden Griffin guards the entrance to a corner library. Rescued from the city's Mitchell Building, the crumbling, unwanted Griffin now guards the "gold," as griffins are purported to do, only in this case, he guards books. And then a tiny detail - in the upstairs bathroom, towels bear the affirmative "YES" of Joe's agency's name.
"Yes" is an appropriate moniker for a creative business owned by a man who decorates with this kind of bravado, and who nurtures the talent of young artists renting the space below.
Apartment Therapy Survey:
Joe's style: Authentic Not contrived. Look at what the building wants to be, nudge it further in that direction.
Inspiration: Roman and Williams, Katsura Imperial Villa, the Bat cave, Richard Neutra, Albert Frey, Hector Guimard, George Mann Niedecken, Frank Lloyd Wright, George Nakashima, "The Shadow Gallery" in V for Vendetta, Sanctum Sanctorum of Dr Strange, Dr. No's Crab Key Island, The Return of Mr X (graphic novel by Gilbert Hernandez).
Favorite Element: The library, crow cabinets.
Biggest Challenge: Moving the oversized heavy objects; the boxcar door and teak table both weigh more than 1,000 pounds and are larger than the freight elevator.
What Friends Say: "Where do you find the time?"
Biggest Embarrassment: Dirty windows. But the views are bad, anyway. It's probably best to stay away from the windows.
Proudest DIY: Sourcing the rare, exotic and vintage materials.
Biggest Indulgence: Square footage.
Best advice: Don't be tentative. Don't worry about trends and established styles or what others are doing.
Dream source: Nature.
Resources: oldegoodthings.com, slingluffphoto.com, littletreestudio.com.
Thanks Joe!
(Images: Elizabeth Setterfield)
Ashley & Kyle's Personality Packed Home 
Aftermarket Resources for Customizing IKEA Furniture 
Like us on Facebook
RSS Feed (Atom)
Good Food to Share 
The Big Book of Small, Cool Spaces 
Apartment Therapy Presents 
The Eight-Step Home Cure 
Bracken Ridge Rug 13
12 Recipes to Know By Heart
How To Make Cake Pops
Comments (56)
AMAZING. I am speechless. I love so many things about these spaces!
What a great space! I love the inventiveness and creativity of it all. Definitely has the "masculine touch."
Wow - I'm now suffering from some serious Loft and Corvette envy!
It just needs a kitchen...
WOW! This place is really awesome. I love it all. That glass wall divider with operable windows is my favorite element. I had to take the tour twice so many great features. Would of loved to see more close ups of those beautiful cars.
Joe you are one cool cat.
Where did you get the Godfather pics!?
I would love to get some for our place!
Awesome!! But dude, why would you wear that shirt?
I am so jealous of your creativity and awesome space. The furniture ... the walls ... the window panel divider thing ... dang. I want that.
AND! Let's be real. Vehicles inside are my favorite thing. That chandelier above the fireplace looks really fantastic, also.
Absolutely beautiful.
Fan-effing-tastic.
This. is. like. ahhhhhhh!
Granted, as a female, I'm not sure I couldn't move in without the urge to change a few things, but since that ain't happening I freakin' love it! And I can name quite a few of my male family members who would kill for your place, cars included of course! lol
this is absolutely stunning. a mans dream come true. one of the best house tours I've ever seen on AT.
So refreshing. My God that's a beautiful place and I haven't even gone through the tour yet, I love the sophistication... can't wait to go through this tour! :D
Dammit... so good! lol Definitely a favorite, I knew it would happen!
It's just nice to see something different. Not another variation of a mid century modernish with a "keep calm and carry on" hanging, that seems to be featured almost daily.
Marry me.
Wow bro...really cool.
Everything about this place is phenomenal. Functional or purely artistic, all the elements complement one another so well. I'd move in yesterday.
Just out of curiosity, how do you heat the space during the winter?
Ranks among my all time AT favorites! Can't find fault with any of it.
Oh sooooo FABULOUS!!!!! You rock
It does veer rather close to being 'Stuff White People Like' World Headquarters... but there are some marvellous ideas, such as the blackboard painted storage bins, the wood slab TV mount and the use of ornate antiques in an industrial space.
This place is fantastic and huge. I am a bit jealous. Congratulations on getting it so right.
I really do not even want to understand the 'Stuff White People Like' World Headquarters comment. I like it and I am not white.
Each wall in and around that kitchen is making me moan with great pleasure. As are the bathroom wall and the tub. Little Frank Sinatra songs about heaven are going off in my head. Toss in some counter/workspace and it is my perfect kitchen.
Gotta say that while the idea of placing cars in a loft space is cool, it just didn't work for me with the wobbly looking tea house behind it and all of the precariously strung up bamboo mat curtains. I didn't get that whole space at all. Seemed like it was designed by a different person than the first loft space.
So cool. Would love to visit this home in the flesh!
Did I miss the bedroom(s)? Dang!
Wow, what a creative endeavor. Beautiful photos of their environment. Best yet they recycled an old building and made it their own!!!! Awesome
WOW! That is the best space I've seen here at AT! Simply flawless..
so, this dude is poor, right?
And where, exactly, are the screamers about "3000 sq feet is not small and not what I come to 'Apartment Therapy' for..."
I guess if you add exposed beams, concrete floors and a sense of playful funk to your conspicuous consumption (three vehicles...for show!, fireplace, chandelier, pool table, dueling Eames loungers...), the AT community is placated.
uh... how is this guy poor therapy4me? That's a collection of pricey looking automobiles there.
uh... I think the sarcasm eluded you.
I'm pre-coffee.. I don't process sarcasm at this time of the morning :(
I do NOT like to be the contrarian... I don't. I hate to critisize, specially a total stranger's home. BUT.... I hate it. It looks like an "Old Navy" store circa 1999.
Commercial Echoes
Some of the spaces in the home feel like a large commercial retail space, like the large parts of a boutique hotel. Not the good (intimate) parts of a boutique hotel. But like the full sized lobby. There are a lot of small interesting ideas that were crammed into the large space. I see they found a spot for Shoji screens! It needs additional editing. It's just too much while not being enough.
Emptiness
At the large lobby of a boutique hotel you are on your way somewhere -- your intimate room, a small restaurant, a meeting, or the bar. There are people and things in motion. At an Old Navy store, there area lot of clothes and there is activity.
This space is a home and without the items for sale or the people in movement -- it feels utterly empty, stale, and just plain WRONG. The cars are comical, again harkening back to the Old Navy of 1999 or a Banana Republic from 1980 (the ones with the Jeeps inside).
Like others, I am also wondering why this house tour is even on AT. Again, I hate to be critical. I am just shocked by how many people like this space.
Gorgeous! I really don't understand Alex's beefs with the place, but to each his own.
@ patrick -- people seem to be the most up in arms when a larger space is also expensively furnished. Apparently people are not allowed to have large spaces AND the funds to furnish them in opulence.
Awesome!
nice
Beyond awesome.
I thought it was funny that the post was labeled "Milwaukee, IL" on today's email notification... hmmmm.
Two words from France: J'ADORE!
Actually the redwood comes from Humboldt County. Eureka is the largest city.
wanted to like it...but it is just way too man-cave!
omg...and I don't usually like a lot of wood. But when there's so much open space (ahhhh) and softly filtered light, and the wood is handled so beautifully that a table feels alive and still part of the tree, well, that's sublime.
Pretty much how I envision live-and-work heaven.
oh yeah, forgot to say how much I like the artwork, too. I am so finding or copying the 8-canvas-tree artwork for my own home. It's stunning. Feels like you're walking right into the forest. thank you so much for sharing this completely original space.
I think this is quite wonderful with so many bold but thoughtful touches. I would love to spend some time there and just wander around.
Outstanding! Just wonderful. You do Milwaukee proud.
This is a fantastic loft. In my opinion, this is the very definition of this housing type. A far cry from the typical white box with low ceilinged bedroom shoehorned over the kitchen and bath.
Thanks for sharing your creativity. Your bounty and blending of eccentric natural and societal texture. And your amazing tangle of facial hair. I even like the shirt.
Batman lives here.
I can't stop looking at this incredible space!
this is a STUNNING space! great job. love it. congrats.
Amazing! I like... NO, I LOVE this loft! Like JEFRAL, I can't stop looking at the pictures of this apartment.
OMG THIS PLACE IS AMAZING!!!!!!!!!!!
Pitch-perfect! My house is NOTHING like this and I absolutely have a style but good design is just good. I'll lose sleep over this one. :)
Well played, sir. By far my favorite stop on AptTh yet.
BTW nice resto on the F1. I have a '48 f1 and finishing it completely suede: navy primer, white walls, red / chrome rims.
Amazing work! yeah, where did you get those godfather pics, they are awesome?
wow man! this is amazing! i really love how authentic this is! seen all these elements before, but the way you've put your home together...it's just so personal. hard to pull off on such a large scale. there's no particular "look" here but lot's of audacious style! i don't think bruce wayne has it in him to pull of this something so inviting. ; ) great!
This space is so fascinating- I can't believe I missed it the first time around last spring. These guys clearly have a great thing going on.
Questions for you AT editors: why do you torture us with descriptions of the absinthe bar and Japanese tea room, and neglect to photograph them? I'm outraged! (But only in a
sort of grateful and jealous way.)
Thanks for the amazing tour!
Is it wrong that I want this man to propose to me so I can live here??? LOL... Not a loft, but a CityState... I will have to look at this a million times... p.s. I want to see the "Absinthe Bar" as well...