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A Salt Lake couple creates a high-style getaway in a small downtown loft.
For anyone who hasn’t gotten the message, we’ll say it one more time: you don’t have to have a big house to live big. In fact, there are those who will tell you small homes can have a large impact on improving one’s quality of life.
Among these disciples of diminutive living spaces are Carole and Karl Street. These empty nesters recently supplemented their traditional family home in Midvale with a pied-à-terre—a 908-square-foot loft situated smack-dab in the center of Salt Lake’s bustling downtown.
It’s fair to say that Carole had a head start on the rest of us when it comes to recognizing the allure of downtown loft living. Carole and her business partner Richard Gordon have been developing buildings in downtown Salt Lake City since the ’80s. Their company, Westside Property Associates, began by renovating old warehouses into self-storage facilities and later into downtown office spaces.
In 2004, Richard and Carole recognized the growing demand for downtown living spaces, so they decided to transform one of the company’s five buildings—collectively known as the Westgate Business Center (located on 200 South west of 300 West)—into residential lofts. They named the nearly 100-year-old, five-story building The Westgate Lofts and, a year later, Carole picked out one of the 54 units to enjoy with her husband.
“The first four floors sold out while the renovation and construction were in full swing,” says Carole. “Eventually, the building was divided into individual units and I could really see what they looked like. I walked right into Richard’s office with my $500 deposit and told him I was sold.” They walked through the building, and when Carole stepped into one of the smaller lofts with views to the north, she smiled and said, “This is the one.”
For some new residents, the empty units’ starkness was daunting—but not for Carole. Because part of her job has been helping new owners choose interior elements to help transform their empty spaces into personalized downtown dwellings, Carole had no problem envisioning her own. Once she had helped the others pull their new digs together, she was able to work on hers. Last summer, she and Karl moved into their urban flat.
Truthfully, the couple didn’t move in entirely. She and Karl still reside in their suburban home, but use the loft as a getaway pad. Often, the duo lives downtown during weekends in the city. And on weeknights, when Karl is working as an EMT instructor, Carole frequently leaves her office—located next door to the Gateway Lofts—and heads directly up to their unit for a relaxed evening on her own.
“A night here is like a vacation to me,” says Carole. She listens to her iPod and, sitting at a desk in a corner by the windows, she draws, paints and works on her crafts. “This may look like a home office, but it is really crafts central,” she says.
The craft corner is just one of the distinct areas into which Carole skillfully divided the open loft. Its compact floor plan also houses a dining area, kitchen, living room, bathroom and a unique, spacious entry and sitting area that doubles—with the help of a now-you see-it, now-you-don’t Murphy bed—as a bedroom.
“I wanted that area left open so that when the bed was stowed away in the wall, we can use the spot to entertain guests or for me to play on the floor with our grandchildren,” says Carole. Here, she installed modish carpet squares to add underfoot comfort and to visually separate the area from the loft’s adjoining living spaces. She similarly used other decorative elements—paint colors, furniture arrangements and partial walls—to help zone the small interior into distinct areas while preserving its urban vibe.
“We wanted to keep the loft look,” says Carole as she waxes about the distinct warehouse features, including crude concrete arches, raw brick walls and exposed electrical and iron beams the project’s architect, Warren Lloyd, purposefully retained throughout the building.
“Westgate Lofts is unique because it was originally a five-story, fireproofed warehouse completely framed by concrete,” he says. “By retaining its distinct warehouse characteristics, we enable the owners to become connected to the building’s history.”
But even with these treasured elements, Carole’s favorite feature is the building’s unusual method of heating and cooling its interior. Pumps draw water from 300 feet beneath the city’s streets and extract its heat to warm the building’s interior during the winter. They then return the cooler water to the earth. In the summer months, the process is reversed to cool the living spaces.
“Because residents are only paying for an electric fan to push the heated or cooled air into their units, they spend up to 75 percent less than
homeowners using traditional methods of heating and cooling their interiors,” says Lloyd.
Whether it’s winter or summer, Carole can’t get enough of her time downtown. An avid Utah Jazz fan, she often enjoys post-game hot chocolate at the loft with her brother Gary. During the summer, the neighborhood farmers market makes a leisurely event out of Saturday mornings, and nearby shopping, restaurants and art galleries keep the Streets and their visiting clan occupied and entertained.
With all this to enjoy, one may wonder why the couple hasn’t moved downtown permanently. “While I love the way our loft simplifies my life and leaves me time to enjoy the city and my crafts, I need a larger house for my doll collection,” she says with a laugh. No problem—the units come with large storage closets that provide help to those making a big move to smaller living quarters.
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