If you're a San Francisco resident, chances are you've been graced with the pleasure (does the sarcasm translate here?) of living in a railroad apartment. We've been there, done that and happily moved on from the memories of stepping over the crashed out indie-rockers in our living room to get to the bedroom, the long dark hallways and that ubiquitous window-to-nowhere above the toilet. So when we read that architect Adam Rolston intentionally built a house "shaped like a boxcar", we had to take a second to breathe deep and process.
Of course, Adam's boxcar of a home has about as much in common with those dark apartments as a cantaloupe does with brussel sprouts. Yes, they fit in to the same general category, but Adam's home, though perfectly straightforward, is light, refreshing and bursting with a sense of simple luxury.
He started with the basic concept of a box and then tweaked, stretched and rearranged until it was an open and airy home pulled together by a balanced mixture of vintage, reclaimed and handmade treasures.
Apparently this lovely abode, located in Columbia Country, New York, is merely a weekend retreat for Adam and his partner. We're curious about their Manhattan digs...house tour anyone?
Check out the full article in the March Elle Decor.
Images: Elle Decor, March 2008
-shayna
Love the barstools!
view Rachel Abrams's profile
I could use a weekend retreat like that.
view jennifer in sf's profile
I live in a railroad in NYC, but it is rent stabilized, so I just pimped it out, and am grateful... it is cheaper for me to live on the Upper East Side in Manhattan, than in Idaho!!
: )
view starbaby's profile
Love railroad flats (maybe it's due to my lack of indie rockers sprawled on the floor, as they make terrible area rugs -- so lumpy!)... but what you're showing is gorgeous even without skepticism to overcome.
view wende in the twin cities's profile
That house gives me a funny tingly feeling.... I'm in love.
view Angie in Montreal's profile
where are those stools from?
view sherry2's profile
i'm curious about the stools... there's a vintage/antique store here in toronto that has very similar ones that are sometimes a little more worked over for $200 . would love to hear of more sources.
view pinstripeprincess's profile
This guy has got some serious style...
sherry2/ pinstripeprincess: those stools are called Toledo stools (or Toledo chairs)... they're vintage drafting chairs, and yes, they ooze with machine-age, industrial character. They're fairly easy to find and not all that expensive (yet) -- eBay is a good source.
view lightspeed's profile
You guys are all awsome. The stools I pulled out of an NYU dumpster. They were demolishing a lab building. I've seen them here and there in junk stores. There is one store I know of that specializes in these things but they ain't cheap. I love this store so much, I could live in it. It is called Get Back, Inc. ( http://www.getbackinc.com/catalog/ )
view Adam Rolston's profile
i love the bar in the living room
view emilyn's profile