apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

"Loft" is a term used by real estate agents to trick you into thinking that the apartment is bigger than it really is. As in, "spacious 400 sqare foot loft" = dinky studio.

Your definition of "loft" is the correct one IMHO.

I lived in a 400 sq ft "loft" in Williamsburg - a divided loft, since my friend had the back 400 and I had the front 400. We shared the bathroom, and hung a washer dryer in the hallway.
It was a very narrow building without rooms...I guess you could have called each floor a studio, but it was an industrial area, so . . .

there were no realtors involved.
o how times have changed!

"Loft" has shifted meaning over the years. It used to mean one big unfinished or semi-finished volume, converted from former industrial space.

Then in the 1990s, developers started building "lofts." Whether it's an industrial rehab or new construction, what you get with a newish "loft" depends on where you are, but it's loosely a way of saying: "This condo is very, very hip."

Here in San Francisco, a new loft is a tall, narrow shoebox with a mezzanine for the bed. When we looked at lofts in Minneapolis, beds were on the same floor with the rest of the unit, but usually only the front room had windows. In other places, I've seen "lofts" that were basically conventional condos with high ceilings and some industrial details. So it's more a marketing ploy than a distinct design.

Oh -- and here in SF, being a "loft" allows a unit to evade certain earthquake codes.

(Yeah, yeah, I wrote a not-very-good academic paper on this topic a couple years back. Bleh.)

As per dictionary:

- A large, usually unpartitioned floor over a factory, warehouse, or other commercial or industrial space.

- Such a floor converted into an apartment or artist's studio.

- An open space

My personal understanding is that loft is simply a (possibly large but not always) open concept (no internal, dividing walls) space converted into living/working studio.

Which is not to be confused with a mini-loft. ; )

mini-loft?
Jim, I had to google. I thought they must be breeding them down, but I found something different altogether.

http://www.thatpetplace.com/Products/KW/S12AF/Class/Small+Pet+Supplies+Cages+Accessories/T1/S12AF+0171+1249/EDP/43902/Itemdy00.aspx

Guido, actually when I was looking around for a new apt. there were some places actually listed as mini-lofts. Essentially a open layout/studio apt. with industrial type ceiling or such lack of finish.

Here in Boston, they are starting to call studios 'lofts' as well. Another fun one is the 'loft like floorplan' which basically means someone knocked out everything but the loadbearing walls from a condo.

I agree with Tyson, it should be a former industrial space, with no real walls, usally live/work.

Of course I can say this because I do live in a true live/work loft in a former candy factory (yes, on hot days in the summer you can still smell candy) and while the lifestyle isn't for everyone, sometimes it's not even for me, there is NOTHING like having a blank space and being able to do whatever you want with it.

I guess there is no such thing as a stupid question. The term "loft" was coined to refer to apartment’s in converted commercial/ industrial buildings. The term was used to describe the lofted or high ceilings that one would generally find in such apartments. Lofts will vary; some will have lots of windows, some will be huge open spaces, but the one criteria they should all have is lofted/ high ceilings.

Yes! There are studio-lofts. A studio can also be lofts, as long as the ceilings are lofted.

I think others have explained this pretty well, but originally, they were raw industrial spaces with floors that rented cheap, which drew artists, which made people think "if artists like them, they must be good." Enter developers. In places with industry, they took the industrial frames of the buildings, created apartments, which still retained their industrial feel. These were still comfortably called lofts. Now, people call almost anything lofts because it's "hip." It's especially humorous here in DC where there were no warehouses or factories and hence, no real loft space. They put in stainless steel appliances and a pendant light fixture, maybe expose a pipe and they think it's a loft. It's infuriating (only someone like me would get incensed over something like this!). just wait until "small shithole studios" come back in vogue--they'll be calling lofts and loft-like places that. :)

In Chicago, you will often find the term "soft loft" in real estate ad's. Basically, this means the place is in a converted industrial space with an open layout, but still has conventional rooms (bedrooms, halls, etc...)which are separate from the main living space (usually by partial height walls).

My place is a soft loft in what was once warehouse space for Woolworths. It retains the original 12' high concrete ceilings and brick walls, with windows only on one wall, but they put up 8' high walls to create a bedroom (no windows), and the bathroom is conventional. Oh, and it's only 495 square feet.

If the space were to have conventional 8' high ceilings, it would feel quite claustrophobic, but the high ceilings essentially give an additional 50% of volume to the space, giving you the feeling of being in a much bigger space.

To me a loft has to have:

1. High ceilings (at least 10')
2. An open floorplan
3. An industrial character for the raw space
4. A sense of spaciousness. I have a very hard time viewing sub 1000 sqft spaces as lofts. It's very difficult to get the spacious and faintly cavernous feeling that true lofts have in small spaces.

Hello, from Nashville. In our ever increasing need to be cosmopolitan we are converting every old mill and barn to lofts. They are usually overpriced and overdesigned. Loft seams like a marketing term.

What "Loft" is Not.

The term "loft" is relative, but I do have a gripe about what Realtors are calling "lofts" here in Chicago. Here's what I mean.

- If you expose a small section of ductwork (say 10", yes inches), this does not make the space a loft.

- If you install Pergo floors and call them "natural" hardwood flooring, this does not make the space a loft.

- If you hang a post of 'Tournee du Chat Noir' by Théophile Alexandre Steinlen in your dining room, this does not make the space a loft.

That's my two cents.
Sorry if I sound like a loft-snob, but come on now? Realtors will call anything a loft if it helps it sell.

A true loft starts at 1500 square feet.

at minium a space needs at least 500Sq ft; 11 ft ceilings, and be situated in an old industrial or office building to be considered a loft. Also lots of open space.

I've rented houses that had 25ft ceilings that were great but were not lofts.

My interpretation of "loft" is a large open floor plan with very high ceilings, usually with one wall of large scaled windows (as in factory-converted spaces), but with the bedroom being raised up and open to the space below and often with a workspace/kitchen beneath it.

LOL, AdonisSJ -- I have one more to add to your list of what a loft is NOT:

-- an apartment on the top floor of a house, with slanty ceilings, is not a loft!

This misconception is especially popular with landlords posting to Boston CL for some reason...

It's sad, but anything can be called a loft in the world of real estate, shameful how a converted historical mill, now loft, isn't the only 'loft' out there anymore... Selling a lifestyle, I guess.

Lofts are even in the burbs, now! I've been following articles on suburban loft home developments, created for urban-minded peeps that crave an open concept floor plan, exposed brick and metal sheathing but must be within driving distance of the local Home Depot and Wendy's all night drive-thru.

Google 'suburban lofts' or 'iron works lofts' and you should be able to find a whole new definition of loft living.



-holly

This post is for Joey - are you in Everett over at the Charleston Chew building? I think I saw your pad featured last year on boston.com after viewing your slide show... Was that you?

Also, I have clients in your building, do you know the Mostajos?

Holly

Maybe it's the fact that I'm from the midwest, but in trying to explain what a "loft" is, I immediately think "hay loft." Exposed beams, work space (barn) that could be a cozy living space (for some discerning cats), etc.

Here in Denver, if you have,say, exposed duct work... they call it a loft.

Ugh. This city is so fake it is sickening sometimes.

Hey Holly,

Yep, dat's me! Please please PLEASE don't judge me or my place on those pictures. ANYONE will tell you both of us are far better looking in person. Or you could see for yourself if you come visit Carlos & Sandy :)

I think the original lofts were former factories and commercial spaces converted to living areas.

I wish I lived in a building called the Charleston Chew building!

adonissj, that commentary on lofts was hilarious...esp. the "chat" comment. It's the same here in DC.

Whats funny is that on hot days you can still smell candy. My building was shipping/receiving so I still have some of the markings of the loading dock door hardware up on my ceiling. Pretty cool stuff.

Chicago has also been building new highrise buildings in which they are calling the units "Loft Apartments" They are often duplexed units, with double height ceilings, and exposed ductwork.
I am sorry, the words "New", "Highrise" and "Loft" do not belong in the same sentence.

well i want to convert this old 12 story full brick storage warehouse crammed full with windows in to lofts. i like to keep it real and use that old stuff

Absolute prerequisite for a bona-fide loft-
Must have originally been built as an industrial space, then converted for residential use, period.

Furthermore, to respectably claim to be a loft, one must have-
1000 sq. ft. +
minimum 12 ft. ceilings (preferably higher)
retain the industrial window hardware (preferably many windows)
Exposed brick or in some cases cinderblock walls

"Bonus Points" for other exposed infrastructure may include-
Plumbing lines
Gas lines
Electrical conduit
HVAC ductwork
Pneumatic mail system tubes

Other bragging rights may include:

A formerly exterior wall from an adjacent building that has been walled in, and is now part of the interior which displays a portion of some turn-of-the-century painted billboard for a now obsolete product (ie.: 4 foot tall letters advertising "Fine Coach Builders" with a logo of a man wearing a top-hat where half the ad is on your floor and the other half continues on the wall of your downstairs neighbor's apartment).

True loft living panache:

Industrial freight elevator that opens directly into your living space, big enough to drive your car into so you can bring it upstairs and park it in your apartment.

I grew up in regular homes in the suburbs, so for me a loft is any room you need to get to via a ladder. Doesn't matter what the "history" of the room is, it's gotta have a ladder or other complicated entry.

If you try to build a loft, are you really building an industial bilding to put the loft into? Can you really call it a single family dwelling to get the building permit?

I learned last year that a "loft" space is defined (especially by our English-speaking neighbors across the Atlantic) as the space directly under the roof of a building. I had seemed to recall this particular definition and "googled" the word, to confirm. I was advertising a bedroom in my house which fell under that description and wanted to be sure and represent it in the most interesting and accurate way that it deserved.