When David Hurlbut saw the 20,000-square-foot Harmony Club, it had been empty for nearly 40 years. But he didn't see what it was, a dirty pigeon and rat motel - he saw what it could be: a one of a kind home, carved out of an abandoned men's club.
“The building’s sole inhabitants were a flock of pigeons that left behind what he estimates to be about 140 cubic yards of guano. There was no plumbing, and the electrical wiring was in shambles,” he said. Still, he knew he’d found his home. “I thought it would be a perfect clubhouse for me,” he said. “It’s probably a guy thing.” After a small number of visits he purchased the property for a little less than $100,000 and moved in the turn of the new millennium – January 1, 2000!
Yatzer has a fantastic gallery of the home, which Hurlbut renovated into a liveable space a mere two years later: Link (Photo: Robert Rausch of GAS Design Center/NY Times)
I couldn't imagine visiting such a dump, let alone living there.
I love how the comments at the main site fawn over it like squalor is the new designers miracle.