Friday, August 5, 2011

$800 a month 'shoebox studio' in Manhattan is just 78 square foot smallest apartment in America

Okay, hold your breath and squeeze.

Daily Mail

If you find your apartment a bit claustrophobic at times, spare a thought for this young New Yorker.

Architect Luke Clark Tyler designs grand houses for clients from his tiny 78 square foot shoebox apartment.


There is no space for a kitchen, or bathroom, and he had to build a bed from scratch because it is too narrow to fit full-sized ones inside.

The bed doubles as a sofa - and as a storage unit for clothes and odds and ends.


With no kitchen, a microwave is hidden away with his shoes and a fridge is built into the desk at which he spends most of the day working. His rent is $800 a month, which is cheap for the area but extortionate considering the cost per square footage ratio.

The average rental price per square foot in a studio is $72 but Mr Tyler is paying almost twice as much at $123.07. Mr Tyler, who downsized from a 96 square foot apartment, remains upbeat, seeing the apartment as conveniently snug, rather than constricting.

More here