Massive Warehouse Loft Apartment

Earlier this year, Marrickville was voted the 10th coolest neighbourhood in the world by Time Out. And this would be the coolest pad in that neighbourhood. It's a big space on the first floor of an old warehouse. Downstairs is a working art studio - The Bakehouse Studio Marrickville run by Lisa Hoelzl. The guests who love our place the most are the ones who like the idea of staying in a warehouse flat on top of a studio and engaging with our odd extended household and neighbourhood. Although we Marrickville residents take with a grain of salt the whole 'world's 10th coolest neighbourhood' thing, a few years ago, Airbnb sent a New York photographer/artist/writer called Todd Selby around the world to stay in 5 Airbnb properties. He went to London, Paris, LA, Tokyo and....... Marrickville. Airbnb and Todd thought ours was the most interesting Airbnb property in Sydney. A guest recently said our place was 'what Airbnb used to be like'. I know what they mean. In the beginning, Airbnb was about interesting spaces and active hosts who liked to meet guests and help make their stay interesting. Now, there are people managing multiple properties for absent hosts. They are more like serviced apartments full of IKEA furniture. There is no IKEA furniture in our pad. Last year, when Qantas did their frequent flyer partnership with Airbnb, they picked this property as one of the best in Airbnbs in Sydney. I think it got the 'quirky' vote. Yes, it does seem strangely inexpensive compared to many other Airbnb listings considering how big it is. Keeping the price down means we attract more interesting people. You’ve already decided to come to Sydney, so there is no need to tell you about the Opera House, Harbour Bridge, art galleries, those pesky kangaroos and all the rest. Sydney is a great city. I would love to see it as a tourist. Marrickville is an older suburb not far from the city – maybe 4 miles (7klm). The city is where the Opera House and Bridge and all that stuff is. It’s a 15 minute train ride into the city from Marrickville – I work in the city, so I know. (And the train station is a 7 minute walk from home.) In the 1950s and 1960s, lots of Greeks settled in Marrickville. Then in the 1970s it was the Vietnamese who ended up here. So the suburb has an interesting mix of people and there is great (and cheap) food available in walking distance from home. The airport is very close, but it’s still a $30 taxi ride – they must take the long way. The apartment is on the top floor of a two story building attached to our house that was built in 1895 as a bakery. Downstairs in this building, my wife (the artist) has her studio, so if you feel like mucking around with some paint or clay, she’ll be happy to muck around with you. (If you’re an artist yourself, you may never want to leave.) The pad is a dedicated holiday rental. Nobody needs to move out for you to move in, so you won't find drawers filled with other people's underpants and stuff like that. The staircase between the two levels is open, but the apartment is private. If Lisa and friends are in the studio downstairs, you will hear a bit of chit chat. The apartment is one room about 95 sqm. Yep, it’s a massive room. There is also a mezzanine with a single bed and ladder access. The photos show very well what the space is like. There is a fully equipped kitchen with decent knives and saucepans etc. It has a proper bathroom (behind the sliding red wall). The apartment has wireless internet and a television and DVD player, but for those like me not into new gadgets, there are books to read and a turntable with a couple of hundred 70s and 80s records (they’re those big round black things that people used for music last century). The furniture is very last century, too. You can see the double bed in the photos. It’s a proper bed – not a couch. There is also a single bed up in the loft. On the downside, because it is a big space in an old building it can get a bit cool in the middle of winter and a bit warm in the middle of summer. In the backyard there is a vege garden, chickens and a hammock. It’s a pretty typical and slightly unkempt inner suburban backyard, not one of those fancy manicured ‘outdoor rooms’ you see in magazines. It’s so messy I didn’t even photograph it. You can smoke out in the yard – and do a bit of gardening if you’re inclined. The separate house next to the bakery building is where I live with my family. There are four of us – two adults and two kids aged 15 and 17. The apartment is NOT a safe space for kids, even well trained ones. The open stairs and ladder to the loft are not kid safe. We can supply some bread, butter, vegemite (of course), tea bags, sugar, milk and that sort of stuff for when you arrive to get you started. But 200 metres up the road is a huge supermarket that stays open till midnight most nights. The apartment is exactly how it looks in the photos. It's a cavernous space in an old industrial building with an eclectic collection of stuff. If you feel more comfortable in 5 star hotels where people put little chocolates on your pillow, this might not be the place for you. Feel free to ask questions if any of the above is not clear enough. It’s probably best that we correspond by email before you make a booking so there are no surprises or disappointments for either of us. The stairs up to your pad are in the art studio, so you will pass through that space often. You are of course welcome to hang around and have a chat and a drink and maybe make pot or something. The backyard has a hammock and chairs and is a nice place to sit in the afternoons. If you are a gardener and missing your garden, I've got plenty of tools you can use. If you are a DIY guy and missing your shed, I'm always keen for company in my shed. Our house is attached to the warehouse building. We are around all the time. After 6 years of hosting, I am pretty good at helping people - and I enjoy it. We are in an area of Sydney called the 'inner west'. Politically, it's a left leaning area with lots of immigrants - Greeks from the 1960s and Vietnamese from the 70s. That means the local food options are plentiful, cheap and interesting. It also has lots of artists and is gay friendly. About 700 metres from our place is the train to the city - 15 minute ride. There is also a bus to the city just up the road. Parking on the street is free and always available.