Moved Downtown
My divorced-bachelor home was very appropriate. Downtown was just beginning a renaissance and I bought a condo in a new loft development. It was in a beautiful old factory with a freight elevator and gigantic cedar beams, with great sound isolation. My unit was 1800 sq ft and essentially one open room. Because the buildout was underway, I was able to make make everything just how I wanted: not as “funky” as the fashion of the moment but still with some quirky curved walls. I had bamboo flooring imported from California and flexible smart lighting throughout. My move-in kept being delayed by things like the custom green tub to match the accents in the natural stone tiling of the master bathroom. The TV was a custom grey screen with a front projector. In 2002, most of this was ridiculously extravagant.
It was glorious, made my parties very popular, and cost more than any property in St. Louis ought to. This did not turn out to be a great investment, but was worth it for the 6 years I lived there.