The art of living in style

Converted spaces and older places lend style to student living

Beforefore you go to the nearest Huge Apartment Megaplex e find your living space for the next semester, let it be known that there are aiternatives. With a little patience and time to search around, you may be able to find an older residence that makes up in style what it lacks in modern conveniences, a place that had been many, many things before it became a place for you to call home.

Lauren Benz and her four roommates live in Studio Apartments, in the mostly commercial downtown area. Their loft-style apartment, which has been a graphic design studio and a recording studio, has a few problems other apartments don't. There is no heating system, no central cooling system, no residential garbage service and no parking. But the benefits of living in their apartment are numerous. The open architecture has allowed the room-mates to host parties with up to 600 guests, with space left over to allow bands to perform.

Henry Electric Apartments is another converted space. A former electric store opened in 1935, the building was divided into four separate apartments two years ago.

The contractors that renovated the building left the original, polished, concrete floors, while installing recycled pool tiles to the bathroom. They also left the original Henry Electric sign out front, which can invite some confused visitors to the property. Residents have come out of their bedrooms to find elderly men browsing through their belongings, looking for electrical supplies.

Rincon Apartments, located on East University Boulevard, are older apartments that boast the kind of early 20th century architecture one won't find in brand new places. 'It's the very first apartment building built in Tucson. It was built in 1908,' said owner and manager Margaret Sokser. 'The historic building has seventeen units in it,' she said, noting that over the years, there has been a fair mix of residents. Each apartment has wooden floors, high ceilings and a fireplace.

Another apartment building in the university area, the Castle Apartments was a hospital, tuberculosis sanitarium, nursing home, convent and vacation lodge before becoming an apartment building. The building, which was originally built in 1906, has thirty-two apartments and is mostly occupied by upperclassmen and graduate students, according to owner Kathy Busch. Castle resident Becky Blacher said living in a small complex owned by one person instead of a company made it possible for her to have an art show there, 'Kathy is so cool', she said about talking to her landlady in preparation for the show. 'What other landlord would let you put holes in cement walls?' Blacher said.