Space, Space, Gotta Go to Space

(sorry for the incredible delay on this post - Editor)

In a college dorm room, space is an extremely precious commodity. Your bed, your desk, your clothes all take up a huge amount around which you have to find a way to live. On top of that, your pressed in with somebody else taking up the same charge; now you have to live around their bed and their desk and their clothes too. You skrimp and you save space any way you can. Foot rests that double as boxes for stuff. Hiding things deep under your bed and behind the desk. Just not bringing things. What I'm saying is I wish I had more space.

That is, I wish I lived in the Erlanger House. The Erlanger House uses its space incredibly. Now, admittedly, the kitchen is still fairly cramped, and the bathroom, as we all know, has its own phrase attached to it (courtesy Cody), but the way it uses the space available is phenomenal. The bathroom is small and the kitchen cramped, sure, but that is all in sacrifice to the magnificent central area of the house.

The sitting area, viewed from a standing position.

At first glance, the main sitting area seems all wrong. The fireplace is at an awkward height, and the chimney even worse. There's this concrete with a bunch of pebbles sticking out. The bench seats rise only to your ankles or so from outside of it. But, step down into it, and you can see the magic.

The sitting area, viewed from a more natural position.

It is, instead, a cozy sitting area, dug slightly into the ground compared to the rest of the house. The fireplace is at a nice height, and the chimney is above you where it should be. The pebbles are still exactly what they are, but sitting down, they begin to feel more like massage rollers than something stuck in your shoe. There's a wonderful view from below the main open area, where Ms. Erlanger might dance (think like Minnesota's home basketball court) or perform. Ample light comes in from the courtyard and the backyard.

Reverse view of the sitting area, with the courtyard behind.

The open area itself, though, is the true majesty of the building. Standing in it, you get the magnificent sense of room. The tight quarters of the bathroom are long forgotten while standing in the middle of the open area. Standing there, though you may not have known Ms. Erlanger to be a dancer, you can certainly feel the sense of a stage upon which something will happen. It's very important to that sense that the area is clear but for the piano in the corner and the tables to the side; putting out chairs and tables and trying to just sit in the space would feel dramatically wrong, like the openness was oppressive. Only once the area is clear can the space be truly appreciated, particularly for the sacrifices the building had to undergo elsewhere.

View of the open area from the bedroom space, with backyard beyond.

Going up the stairs, which themselves were my actual favorite aspect of the house, you come to where Ms. Erlanger and visiting residents of the house sleep. It's hard to exactly call it a bedroom; it isn't much of a room at all, at least in the sense that a room is enclosed off. You wouldn't exactly be able to keep secrets from your buddy crashing on the couch below in this house. But, the bedroom taps into the space the house works so hard to create. Standing up there, you get just a taste of what it would be like to wake up, get out of bed, and just take in the senses from the courtyard.

The bedroom space, with front courtyard behind.

The courtyard is on the north side of the house, so light doesn't really come in that way. Instead, a curtain blocks off the light from the south-facing backyard, in addition to the way the floor plan itself keeps the bedroom floating on the other side of the building. The final impression comes together to form a light and airy room that still feels appropriate, even for the cozier, darker night in which the bedroom sees its most important use.

To put it mildly, I loved this house. It would be a huge step up from the tiny, stuffy dorm room I'm trapped in right now. Just to have all that space, that incredible open area... And only a short walk* from campus! The listing writes itself.

*ha