Up on the Roof

April 11, 2004 11:59 AM

After getting excited about the Loftcube, I wondered... How would you go about renting or buying roofspace in the city? Is it an endrun around ridiculous apartment prices, or more trouble than it's worth?

I've always imagined setting up a little Walden cabin surrounded by a rooftop lawn or garden, but I'm not sure if it's a doable thing. I'd love to know if anyone's succeeded.

posted by leotrotsky to Home & Garden (2 answers total)

who owns the roof? we have an appartment, which we own. as far as i can see, no-one in particular owns the whole building - it's managed by committee. if water comes through my ceiling because my neighbour has a problem (as it does) then it's their fault (and they should sort it out, dammit!). but if it comes through from the roof, then we have to share costs because it's a "whole building" problem. which leads me to think that we share the ownership of the roof. which, in turn, means there's not much chance of you getting space on our roof, since you'd need to get everyone to agree...
posted by andrew cooke at 12:16 PM on April 11, 2004

I can't find a link, but there's a building in Soho here that has a tiny private house on the roof, but i'm not sure whether it's connected to a space below (as a penthouse) or not. I think the expense of leasing the space and reinforcing the roof, and running water and power lines up there, along with construction, would run into the millions, at least here.
posted by amberglow at 12:43 PM on April 11, 2004