Whew – yesterday I was busy arm wrestling my laptop, which is why, well, there was no pictures. I’ll try to remedy that now.
Make no mistake about it, the laptop won. By its good graces, it’s allowing me what I can only assume is momentary access – so here’s some of the shots of the rear of our loft-schoolhouse:
Converted School House, Exterior Rear I
Converted School House, Exterior Rear II
You can see that grass is a joke in our common area. The landlord installed (or was in the process of completely installing?) a sprinkler system for the yard, but the soil here (as in most of our area) is very Florida-Sand. The grass died out (those are weeds and sub-par grass in the photo) and it just did not make sense in our summer heat to place new sod. The roots would not have had a chance to grow, and the top would have burnt…so we’re waiting for the late fall before he does anything. Plans are to put a gazebo or picnic tables somewhere in the middle, to build community bonding for our little school house dwellers.
And here is why I don’t have a beautiful full-exterior shot:
Converted School House, Exterior Rear III (with trash bin)
I couldn’t go further on the grass beside me, or center myself for the shoot, as someone in the adjoining neighborhood owns two pit bulls – unfixed, btw – and they happened to be in our yard this morning. This is the second morning this week – I’m truly not happy. I know pitbull owners are forever online saying how docile they are …. but, look, they have a reputation. An earned reputation. And people who let their dogs run around free – especially in the inner city – and people who acquire that breed and don’t have them fixed, are doing so for a reason. Jerks. Cute dogs, though…because I was carrying my trash out at the time, I used that to expand my “girth” and walked authoritatively. Once I deposited my trash, however, the dogs started towards me with some barking.
As I’ve just shared: I had already pushed my luck when chasing them off my little porch, and had to follow them to the trash bin outside. Which, as you can see, is situated so that I can have a view of the bin anytime I’m on my little porch. That little wooden fence stops before the placement of the bin – I’m not sure why they didn’t put the bin behind it so everyone could have a pretty view of the playground on the other side of our [fenced] yard.
Here’s a close up of one of the wings of our building. We’re in a sharp “U” shaped construction, and the first wing, from what I can figure out, consisted only of classrooms up and down stairs :
First wing entrance to multiple loft apartments
The second wing was way cool. Apparently it was a combo gym and theater stage. It’s been diced up into two several different lofts – but the coolest two have the old stage. The very rear loft apartment has the highest ceilings…it’s a one story loft, but it holds the stage itself (including the old velvet curtain!) – the people who live here briefly invited me into their home and I was a little disappointed that they only used the stage and curtain for what appeared to be storage. I would have so invested in a projector, wouldn’t you? The other mega big loft is two stories, and holds the actual upper projector area – a little mini theater row for seats are on it’s second story. It’s completely empty, housing only the “props” the landlord uses to stage lofts he’s showing…but it looks magnificent. Both DH and DS want to purchase it for themselves – but it is very pricey for this market. As cool as it is (and it’s so hip that my age might actually disqualify us from attempting a purchase, LOL) I do not like that the most private area (ergo: the bedroom) is upstairs, and the only bathroom is downstairs. It does try to make up for that midnight bladder emergency with a great looking wrought iron spiral staircase, however. I’ll have to sneak in there and take some pics to share. Anyway…all of that and more is housed here:
Looking over to the second wing entrance to loft apartments
From the first wing, if you follow the sidewalk all the way around, you’ll eventually find my place. First, you’ll come across another hallway entrance for the loft apartments…and do you see that little room jutting off the front there? That was the girl’s bathroom. It’s now our neighbor’s air conditioned “porch office.”
First wing "corridor" walking to our loft
Just throwing in a quick glance to the right – and apparently my finger, too.
Little corner view from sidewalk
Here’ you are cutting across the “grass” instead of following the sidewalk. All windows on the right side belong to our neighbor. They are very sensitive to noise, so I am assuming they are also sensitive to people with camera’s coming to close to their windows. To be fair, I would be too. The door and deck, however, are mine – so I have an excuse.
View of our deck from the common grounds
Close up. Pay attention to it – I’d like big plans and suggestions! It’s wide – we’re the only ones with a deck and have the ability to do almost anything to it. DH & I will be scouring the after-summer sales for cute tables or lounge chairs or something.
our deck
Did you peek in our window? You can see the kitchen.
Here’s the long view of our deck. You’ll see that it’s a good size, but it is not ultra deep nor ultra wide…we basically have the width of our window if we’re to dodge the door when it swings open. We want our grill, our bike, lots of pretty flowers (full sun, mind you) and need a place to stick our hose (we may be getting rid of it actually, as I’ve purchased a large water dispenser, er, pot, er, thingee). We want something to entertain outside, though…and that’s the problem. DH and I go outside at night, sit on the top step and then lay back. So something lounge-y would be lovely. But I’m a girl who loves her BBQ in the fall and late winter, so I would like a table, even if it was a small one. And I want to invite people over. I’m lonely. The kitchen doors have special locks that, when released, will allow the doors to swing outward, fully…so potentially I could have a “party” that includes the large floor plan of the kitchen as well as the porch itself. Neither the kitchen nor the porch, however, have great spots for tables plus chairs.
So again – your ideas…share!
Our Deck
Did you peek in the window again?
Quee-queeg
That’s one of our three cats. He’s a dear. The only cat that will allow our dog to “play” and the only cat that will allow you – practically invite you to hold him like a teddy bear when you are feeling blue.
And that’s the tour of the building’s rear exterior. Once the grass and garden have come in, I plan on taking another tour, but this time including some of the cute little things the tenants have outside for decor. Lots of cute antiques. And the main hallways have great local art, too. If you are curious to see the front exterior of the building, you can see it here.
rödhåriga flicka 