At some point, Aaron and Erika Cash knew they wanted to give living in a loft space a try. They had gotten married, and had moved everything into Aaron’s home in Victorian Village. At 1,622 square-feet, the home was a bit large for the two of them and their pets, so they decided to check out their options.
“We wanted to live in a loft,” says Aaron, “and we thought, if we don’t do it now, when are we going to do it.”
“We also wanted to get a place together that we could pick out together,” adds Erika.
The couple decided to give renting Aaron’s house a try and put it up on Craiglist with a ‘make me move’ offer. After only a couple of days, they had found some great tenants.
“So we had to move out and find a place,” says Erika.
They looked at places to rent and buy. The lofts inside the MX Lofts in the Market Exchange District were appealing, but not quite the right fit. One day, they were going by the Wonder Bread Lofts and saw a man coming out of the building. They stopped and asked him if he knew if there was a rental office and he said he could help them out in a few minutes. That man was Kevin Lykens, the developer of the building. He was showing an apartment and offered to show the Cashes the place after.
“This was the first unit we looked at,” said Aaron. “I saw the vault and thought, that’s pretty sweet.”
It’s a 997 square-foot loft with one bedroom and one bathroom.
Coming from a 1,600 square-foot home, it is an adjustment, but it’s great for just the two of them.
“We’d rather have a smaller place and then be able to travel,” says Aaron. “We love the character here, the open and industrial feel. The tall ceilings and the operable windows. We also have access to the rooftop patio, and when the restaurant opens, residents will have their own entrance.”
The loft offers great access to the highway when they have to go to work, and when they want to have fun, it’s only a short walk or bike ride to great shopping, Clippers games, a movie at Studio Movie Grill Arena Grand, a meal out together -pretty much everything they like to do.
“We love the CAPA Summer Movie series and all of the outdoor films during the summer,” says Erika. “Watching Breaking Bad at the Gateway Film Center was a really fun event.”
While they would love to find a mid-century modern home close to Downtown, this loft is suiting their lifestyle just fine and gives them the flexibility to figure out what it is they’d like to do.
At Home is a monthly column on Columbus Underground focused on urban home remodeling and style as well as older home renovations and unique homes in Columbus. If you would like to have your home featured in the At Home series, please send an email to me at [email protected].
At Home is sponsored by Homeport‘s homes at North of Broad. Four homes at 156 N. 20th, 158 N. 20th, 177 N. 20th and 275 N. 22nd are move-in ready. The homes include an open floor plan, large kitchens with an island, full-wood cabinets, large finishable basements and Energy Star appliances. Special below market financing and down payment assistance available to qualified buyers and all four homes are built to AWARE standards which offer a healthy, environmentally-friendly home. Call (614) 221-8889 x363 or stop by Homeport at 734 E. Long St. M-F 9-5 or by appointment. Homeport offers 8 hours of FREE HUD Certified Homebuyer Education to accommodate your schedule. Classes are FREE and prepare you for homeownership. Topics covered include: Budgeting and Credit, Loan products, Home Inspection, and the closing process. Call 614-221-8889 x134 to schedule a class.