Tag: Single Guy’s Apartment

Age: 30 Occupation: Fund-raising executive Apartment: Seven rooms plus balcony and deck. Rent: $1,900 Location: Ukrainian Village How long in the apartment: One year. His first apartment in Chicago. African masks: Got his first one seven years ago and now has 33. Functional collectibles: Chinese wedding cabinet conceals an entertainment center; 19th-century African granary bowl […]

Age: 48 Occupation: Career counselor Apartment: Four-room condo. $200 monthly maintenance fee, includes cable. Location: Ravenswood How Long in the Apartment: Moved in in 1999 after a gut rehab. Building previously had been Section Eight housing. “The only thing that’s original is the floor.” Oldest Objects: Gifts from an elderly neighbor in his hometown of […]

Age: 40 Occupation: Meatpacker Rooms: Three. Rent: $500 Location: Bridgeport How long in the apartment: Two weeks. On parole from state prison, where he spent most of the past eight years for burglary. Housewarming Gifts: Lawn chair from his sister. Computer from a friend of his mother. From his mother, the VCR he’d given to […]

Age: 38 Occupation: Artist Apartment: Studio with sleeping loft. Rent: $475 Location: Pilsen Found Objects: Milk crates, a gurney, a plaster horse, a statue of Saint Francis (his grandmother always had one). Lost somewhere: Polaroid of a stripper taken in Juarez 15 years ago “for art, not sex.” Also photographs of cornfields. Not Pictured: Unfinished […]

Age: 70 Occupation: Photographer, jewelry maker, writer Rooms: Convertible studio in senior citizen housing. Rent: $355 Location: Bronzeville Oldest Possession: Photo of Malcolm X shot in Accra, Ghana, in 1964 Favorite Possession: iMac Stairmaster: Never uses the elevator. Lives on the 11th floor. Not Pictured: Group photo taken in Ghana in 1966 with Ashanti chief […]

Age: 56 Occupation: Retired economist Rooms: Six. Rent: Nothing–he owns the building. Location: Wicker Park Oldest Possession: Photo of Malcolm X shot in Accra, Ghana, in 1964 On the Fridge: Selected Mister Boffo, Willie ‘n Ethel, The Far Side, Bound & Gagged, and Non Sequitur strips The Scarlet Banner: Given to him by a friend […]

Age: 28 Rooms: Three. Rent: $1,100 Location: Bucktown How long he’s been here: Moved to the U.S. from England in late September ’01, to this apartment that December. His girlfriend came over and lived with him for a while but moved back to England this past March. “It was a friendly breakup.” Ping-Pong Table: Bought […]

Age: 59 Occupation: Retired contractor Size: 7 rooms and a basement. Taxes: $308 a month Location: Homewood Prized Possessions: Tropical fish (three 180-gallon aquariums, one 150-gallon aquarium) Tools: 7 chain saws, 5 circular saws, 10 hand drills, 6 routers, 12 hammers, “a couple hundred screwdrivers” Entertainment: 8 TVs, 3 VCRs, 3 DVD players, 100 DVDs, […]

Age: 35 Occupation: Artist/sales clerk Apartment: Five rooms, $950 a month Location: West Town Recently found: An earring, missing for two years. Not Pictured: Photograph of his father and grandmother taken in Greece 60 years ago. Grandmother lived in Chicago, but moved back to Greece when her grandson was three. “I was so pissed she […]

Age: 28 Occupation: Unemployed/poet Apartment: 350-square-foot basement studio, $475 a month Location: West Town Years in this apartment: Four Decorative themes: Schlitz beer promotions: trays, signs, electric displays. Pictures of skeletons. Wake-up Song: “Argh Fuck Kill” by the Dayglo Abortions Post-its on doorjamb: “Lunch Fucker!!” “Fruit!! Fucker!!” Not Pictured: Boxes of his early writings: poems, […]

The Projects

Age: 34 Occupation: Commercial broker, appraiser, TV producer, harmonica player. Apartment size: Three rooms. Mortgage: $500 Location: Wrigleyville Years in apartment: Ten, but he’s moving–the apartment is on the market. Price ten years ago: $51,000 Asking price today: $159,000 He’s given away: Chairs, lamps, plants, books, harmonicas (one to a customer, from a box filled […]

Age: 34 Occupation: Writer Apartment: Three rooms, three closets. Rent: $445 Location: Chatham Prized Possessions: More than 5,000 baseball cards from several eras, with a focus on former Negro League players who also played in the majors: Larry Doby, Ernie Banks, Hank Aaron, “Sad” Sam Jones. All About the Beer: “I have an arrangement with […]

Age: 27 Occupation: Caretaker/teacher Apartment Size: Four rooms, plus two circular turret nooks. Rent: $250 plus Ten hours a week building and grounds maintenance. Location: Beverly Prized Possessions: Swords of several types: collapsible, wooden, and stainless steel. Kept to decorate walls, to use for tai chi practice and demonstration, and for sentimental value (one was […]

The Dungeon Age: 29 Occupation: Assistant editor Apartment: Basement living room and kitchen divided by breakfast counter; bedroom. Rent: $985 Location: Wrigleyville Not pictured: A soup pot “cooked over three times” and a copy of Southern Living: 1981 Annual Recipes. “Some people get hooked on crank, I got hooked on cooking. I love to cook […]