New York Couple Test Their Vows In A Tiny Microstudio
Posted by: Wendy Atterberry
Filed in:
relationships
9:09AM, Friday December 11th 2009
How much space do you need if sharing it with a significant other? If I’m on vacation with my husband, one room in a hotel is fine, but if we’re talking full-time living space, I need at least a one-bedroom apartment with a door to a room I can hole up in and be alone if the mood strikes (or if my dude’s watching sports on TV). I cannot even begin to fathom sharing 175 square feet with my husband and two cats, but that’s exactly what one New York couple is doing. Zaarath and Christopher Prokop live in the smallest apartment in the city in the working-class Manhattan neighborhood of Morningside Heights. The couple bought the “microstudio” for $150,000 three months ago and share it with their two cats (see all the photos here). With no closets, the couple keeps their clothes strategically stashed at various dry cleaners and in their offices. They’ve got a single hot plate, a mini-fridge, two windows, and a queen-sized bed that takes up a third of their living space. They don’t have room for a trash can (“the second something needs to be thrown out, they walk to the chute in the hallway”), but they have a kitchen cabinet full of champagne (“Zaarath’s job allows them to order cases of it”). “We really have everything we need.” says Christopher.
In two years, the apartment will be paid for and they’ll have “only” their $700-a-month maintenance fee to worry about. Because they save money on their home, they can afford to invest in other things that enrich their lives. “We get to really experience life and enjoy ourselves,” Zaarath says. “We eat out all the time. On the weekends, we’re outside exploring the neighborhood. We’re at Riverside Park all the time. We’re not nesters. This apartment is perfect for someone active. If you want to stay home or entertain, this is just not the apartment for you.” I’d say if you want to have a long marriage, the apartment is not for you either, but maybe that’s just me being cynical. [via NY Post and Instapundit]
TheFrisky.com is part of the Turner Sports and Entertainment Digital Network
xifeng882
wrote on December 11 2009 @ 09:28 am: [report]
They spent $150K on that? Oh New York…
LaLa*
wrote on December 11 2009 @ 09:31 am: [report]
I think that living in a small space like this forces you to evaluate your priorities, and theirs are pretty interesting to me. Espresso maker? Two cats? Champagne? Hm. And is paying $700/month for JUST maintenance really that cheap…? Granted, I’m from Minnesota, but you can rent a room in a house for $400/month in my college town.
Full access to real kitchen, full size bathrooms, a living room, a dining room, plus a bedroom probably double this size.
This is an interesting concept, but I’m not sure I’d be happy here!
tabby
wrote on December 11 2009 @ 09:34 am: [report]
That is insane. I know housing in NYC is absolutely ridiculous, but I can think of a lot of things worth $150,000 that would have been a better investment. Of course they eat out all the time, they don’t have room to cook anything! I hope they have good friends who will let them come stay when one or the other needs a break.
PixelChick
wrote on December 11 2009 @ 09:35 am: [report]
This just amazes me, in Oklahoma you can spend 150K - 200K and get a new build, 4 bedroom 3 bathroom house with at least an acre of land.
More power to this couple, I am a homebody and need my space, I love my husband but one month in that little apartment and I would kill him…lovingly of course.
Riley
wrote on December 11 2009 @ 09:38 am: [report]
Eating out all the time is fun until you step on the scale. Even healthy options at most places aren’t all that healthy.
powplz
wrote on December 11 2009 @ 09:38 am: [report]
Exercises in living in small spaces are always interesting to me. Best of luck to them, though I couldn’t survive on that flimsy excuse for a kitchen - no wonder they eat out all the time!
I also have trouble with the phrase “only $700 a month” in maintenence ... please tell me that includes their utilities? Even then, still, wow.
And where are their clothes? If I was living in a place that small, I’d find a way to put shelving absolutely everywhere.
brandyalexander
wrote on December 11 2009 @ 09:43 am: [report]
Look closely at their shelf and I think you will see that the essentials are hard liquor.
camille905
wrote on December 11 2009 @ 09:46 am: [report]
I know home prices in NYC can be ridic so I’m not going to even say anything about that.
What gets me is that they don’t appear to have used the space very efficiently. After looking at the photos, the only storage they have is the wall of cabinets that is in their “kithen”. They could easily put more storage underneath their bed and add some cabinets or shelves to that side of the room.
I’ve seen micro homes before that are amazing and this doesn’t even begin to compare. It’s like they want to brag about how cheap it is, not about how efficiently they’ve used their space or anything.
CheeeeEEEEse
wrote on December 11 2009 @ 09:52 am: [report]
Saw this on Tuesday I think…..woo for places I could afford.
averardoll
wrote on December 11 2009 @ 09:53 am: [report]
Ehh.. it’s more Manhattan than NYC overall. They could totally find something in the Outer Boroughs. I’ve been pricing 1-2 bedrooms in Queens that have been going for 200-250K and are about 1000sf.
I just can’t imagine having 2 cats in a place that small, my cats would be running in circles. Also, as a morning person with a night owl partner… it would be too hard to not have a least a separation of sleep/work space. I’m not sure how high the ceilings are, bur I would build a lofted bed and curtain it. Then I could sleep even with the lights on and you could totally create an office nook underneath.
Happytobeme
wrote on December 11 2009 @ 09:53 am: [report]
I actually lived in a mini studio like this with simliar (but much, much older appliances and such) and absolutley loved it. I also had 2 cats and we always had plenty of space because I did have to limit what was in the space (as well as what I could buy). No closet and only a small kitchen and I still managed to do a lot of cooking. I also worked across the street so living in the city so close to work made the small space wonderful. Due to changing of jobs and not wanting to pay to park on the street I moved and I often miss my little place! Although sharing with another person might become a stretch especially if they are a messy person or just has to have a lot of stuff to survive with.
RoyalEagle0408
wrote on December 11 2009 @ 09:53 am: [report]
They store clothes at their offices and dry cleaners? That’s kind of weird to me. Also, $700 does seem like a lot a month for maintenance. I wonder if that includes their dry cleaning bills!
Also, I don’t know that I’d want to share 150 sq. ft. with a man who said this about our marriage: “I’d say if you want to have a long marriage, the apartment is not for you either, but maybe that’s just me being cynical.” Cynical or not, it’s kind of rude.
*sam*
wrote on December 11 2009 @ 09:54 am: [report]
OK, how are they saving any money at all by eating out every night and constantly being out of the house “experiencing life?” Granted, I’ve never been to NY but I am willing to guess that if that closet space that some d-bag is willing to sell as a “microstudio” is worth $150,000, that breakfast, lunch, and dinner aren’t exactly “cheap” either.
But, if it works for them, then whatever I suppose. I just know that that would NEVER work for my husband and me as we’re what they apparently like to call “nesters” and prefer actually saving money by snuggling up on the couch and watching movies every night instead of eating out and spending every possible moment away from the house.
H. Blue
wrote on December 11 2009 @ 09:56 am: [report]
um, where is the bathroom? I don’t see anywhere they could put a doorway for one.. they DO have one, don’t they? maybe the photo was taken from the bathroom..
this reminds me of the dorm room I had when I studied abroad in England. I could never live there for more than a few months, and especially not sharing the space with another person and two cats. I hope they clean the litter often.
CheeeeEEEEse
wrote on December 11 2009 @ 09:57 am: [report]
Oh and the article talks about these were cleaning people quarters…where they had 9 in this building….8 got turned into 4 studios and this was left over.
Anniushka
wrote on December 11 2009 @ 10:03 am: [report]
What an enormously boring
cubicleapartment. Please tell me they hadn’t yet actually moved in fully when this picture was taken.@ camille: I agree with you. They wouldn’t need to keep their clothes “strategically stashed at various dry cleaners and in their offices” if they invested in underbed and wall storage. I could even think of a couple ways they could keep clothes on hangers without the need for a closet.
And I cannot fathom living in an apartment without a usable kitchen. Maybe cooking means a lot more to me than it does to them, but having a kitchen to play in would be one of my greatest delights in having a place of my own!
Well… I hope it works out for them.
averardoll
wrote on December 11 2009 @ 10:03 am: [report]
@ Sam…
They could live off of the Recession Special at Gray’s Papaya and street vendors.. that’s all pretty cheap.
I also like how they say they spend a lot of time in Riverside Park… great for the summer. Maybe I’m just a bit too much of a bum, but NYC is too damn cold in the winter to hang out in parks. I’d muh rather have friends over to drink and play apples to apples.
RoyalEagle0408
wrote on December 11 2009 @ 10:06 am: [report]
@averardoll- there isn’t much i can think of that i’d rather do than have friends over to play apples to apples. i LOVE that game!
Faferdo
wrote on December 11 2009 @ 10:06 am: [report]
So what happens when one of them loses their job or changes jobs and can not store their clothes at their job? And what job would actually condone that? Not exactly professional.
sassycassie
wrote on December 11 2009 @ 10:07 am: [report]
Who are we to judge if they live in an itty-bitty space—they seem happy!
shoeluvher
wrote on December 11 2009 @ 10:11 am: [report]
If you look at the photos on the NY Post they do have a bathroom, tho it is very small (of course). This is crazy. I would die…even if I were in there by myself. Oh and the captions under one of the articles says that the studio is on the 16th floor of a doorman building…but that it is only accessible by a stairway on the 15th floor. So ridiculous. They could have saved themselves the $150,000 and just doubled their maintenance fee and that would have been enough to get a nice 1 or 2 bedroom in Brooklyn or Queens. Or hell, they could have even found a normal size studio in Manhattan if they really wanted to live in Manhattan. I know NYC real estate/rental properties are hard to find but if you look good enough you’ll find something….better than this. I know, I’ve looked. Methinks they just wanted to be able to say they owned a co-op and lived in a nice area in a building with a doorman…
FrzKey
wrote on December 11 2009 @ 10:11 am: [report]
meh it’s not that much different than the environmentalist couples living in tiny houses to make a statement about unnecessary wasteful living. Except that this is really one room and not mobile.
I’m more concerned about their home’s resale value. A tiny apartment isn’t going to be easy to unload on someone else and if they ever have children some changes will need to be made.
Yodar Critch
wrote on December 11 2009 @ 10:23 am: [report]
I have seen bigger rooms on Death Row.
I also wonder where the bathroom is.
This place might work for one person, but two? There is such a thing as “too close”.
majicksand
wrote on December 11 2009 @ 11:36 am: [report]
I feel my claustrophobia kicking in. *breathe, breathe*
Lexington
wrote on December 11 2009 @ 11:40 am: [report]
Has anyone seen that Geico commercial tiny house? I used to crack up every time that came on.
Tiny House
Anyways, I’m too much of a homebody to be able to deal with that. Plus, for what they’re supposedly going to pay in “maintenance”, I could pay for here in Dallas for a decent apartment.
H. Blue
wrote on December 11 2009 @ 11:41 am: [report]
I love that they have two bottles of drano in the same cabinet as their espresso maker.
I’m all for down-sizing, but this is just too small. And like someone else said- when you get tired of it, how are you going to unload the place on someone else?
Lilypie
wrote on December 11 2009 @ 12:46 pm: [report]
My office is bigger than this… Of course, it’s missing a hot plate.
daciad
wrote on December 11 2009 @ 01:10 pm: [report]
If they want to live in a small place, fine. It reminds me of a dorm room that I was totally cozy in with a roommate. But I really think there are more efficient ways to use the space, such as lofting the bed for example or using wall space for cabinets. Seems like they are just trying to brag or make a statement. I wonder how happy they really are in this space.
Coral
wrote on December 11 2009 @ 01:13 pm: [report]
Even my dorm room in college is way bigger than this.
loveitlala
wrote on December 11 2009 @ 04:49 pm: [report]
I lived in a place this small for two months once (not in college, which doesn’t count at all) and if I stayed a month more I would have been commitable.
loveitlala
wrote on December 11 2009 @ 04:57 pm: [report]
BTW, the place I lived in was $300 a month in one of the world’s most expensive cities… so their $700/month not including morgage is very sad.
theattack
wrote on December 11 2009 @ 05:56 pm: [report]
So…. they go to work in their pajamas and THEN get dressed? Or carry clothes home from work every night? I don’t get it. Too many things could go wrong. What if there was a bad winter storm and they wanted to stay in? Those same clothes probably won’t be so cozy and romantic after a few days. That whole situation reminds me of when I lived in a dorm, and my boyfriend lived off campus. I would stay with him most nights, and I’d go to my dorm just to shower and pack another duffel back of clothes to take to his house. That’s not a fun way to live!
White Mushroom
wrote on December 11 2009 @ 08:14 pm: [report]
So, once they actually own this postage stamp, they still have to pay $700 a month for it?
secretstevie
wrote on December 11 2009 @ 08:16 pm: [report]
i actually think this is a fab investment. it will be paid for in two years at which point they can rent it out for additional income and therefore will be able to afford a bigger, nicer place. genius.
i’m sure it won’t be the most glamorous few years of their lives but it seems worthwhile.
LaLa*
wrote on December 11 2009 @ 09:29 pm: [report]
@secretservice
who else is gonna want to rent this??? the person will have to pay $700 a month JUST FOR MAINTENANCE! so for the couple to make a profit, they’d have to charge more than that.
ridiculous!
afmm
wrote on December 11 2009 @ 10:01 pm: [report]
wow… i have a new appreciation for my 650 sq ft apartment
meredith806
wrote on December 11 2009 @ 11:24 pm: [report]
jesus. I wouldn’t last an hour in the room before I went stir crazy. I need big open spaces. I like the ability to breath air that hasn’t just been breathed by someone else. Thanks.
LunaLena
wrote on December 12 2009 @ 05:53 pm: [report]
Why is everyone bashing this couple for their decision? I’m with sassycassie: if they’re happy living like this, good for them. I read about them in an article several days ago, and they mentioned that they’re usually busy with work, so they mostly only come home to sleep. Living in a tiny space like this isn’t so bad when you’re not in it too often.
It’s really just about what you’re used to. Growing up in Korea, my room was barely big enough for a twin-size bed, a desk, and a wardrobe and clothes chest (Korean apartments don’t usually have built-in closets). If I pulled the chair out from the desk, I barely had enough room to get in it because the bed got in the way. The combined remaining floorspace was maybe 6 sqft. I need my space now, but back then I really didn’t care. I was usually out at school or the library anyways.
As for clothes, what’s so odd about bringing clothes to work? I used to do that too, when I had a job I could bicycle to. The dress code was business-casual, so I packed clothes in a bag, arrived five minutes early, and changed in the bathroom.
I do agree that $700 for maintenance is ridiculous, though.
calenia
wrote on December 12 2009 @ 06:00 pm: [report]
I lived in a studio a hair bigger than that but could never have lived there with someone else. But these people haven’t utilized their space effectively and will soon tire remembering what dry cleaner their shirt is in and long for a dresser. People really do live in small apartments in manhattan but not quite that foolishly.
Countess Mariska
wrote on December 13 2009 @ 01:47 am: [report]
Oh my dear Lord, real estate is getting THAT desperate here? Why did I move to New York again?!?!?!?
Lynn
wrote on December 14 2009 @ 10:37 am: [report]
Isn’t this just like a dorm room basically? Not somewhere I would want to live for years on end, but definitely doable.
@RoyalEagle - that was Wendy’s commentary, not the husband’s
RoyalEagle0408
wrote on December 14 2009 @ 01:17 pm: [report]
@Lynn- I cannot believe I missed those quotation marks that badly. Clearly I had not had my morning coffee Friday!
CheeeeEEEEse
wrote on December 14 2009 @ 01:26 pm: [report]
Here is the followup on this story, about the smallest apartments for RENT in manhattan.
http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/manhattan/small_price_to_pay_yk3QVpgdWYWTBnEhJ0QPXN
secretstevie
wrote on December 14 2009 @ 02:54 pm: [report]
@LaLa, uh a studio of that size in NYC would certainly be quite a bit more than $700 per month anyways. plus, say they charge $1000 per month (reasonable in manhattan) that means they get $300 per month in their pocket of profit. not to mention the equity that comes from having a condo fully paid off. i still maintain my previous point, it was a good investment. virtually any investment in the NYC market is a good one.
toyen
wrote on December 14 2009 @ 04:34 pm: [report]
Wow. That’s crazy. I bought a house 5 1/2 times that size on 1/5 of an acre in Austin, Texas, for tens of thousands less a few years back and no silly maintenance fee. I knew there was a reason—as much as I love NYC—I never did move there.
P.S. Don’t move here.
Fast Eddie
wrote on December 15 2009 @ 06:47 am: [report]
When we first got together I was living on my sailboat with about 300 sq feet of floor space. By the time we moved ashore to a condo she hated leaving the floating love nest.
Small quarters have some advantages, easy to keep neat and clean. Both are necessities in a tiny space and the time saved allows other activities, like making love. We miss those simpler times, but what about raising a kid there????
VeronicaVaughn
wrote on December 15 2009 @ 07:48 am: [report]
I would die! I mean, yes if the time came to move in with my bf, or whatever, then i would be thrilled. But girl let me tell you, I need my space. I like being able to get away and be alone, I dont need every wakeing min with the man. My goodness!