Cat & Scott live in a mid-century brick project haus

The offbeat occupant: Cat Rocketship, artist, organizer, House Captain, Offbeat Home managing editor

Other occupants: Scott (husband), Nelly (most popular cat in Des Moines)

Approximate square footage: 2000-3000 sq. feet

How many bedrooms? 4

Lives in: Des Moines, IA, USA

When did you move into this home? October 2010. Sooo…4 months ago.

Let’s start with the neighborhood. What’s it like where you live? When we started home shopping, we lived downtown and loved it. We just needed more space. Our goal was, “Find the closest possible house to downtown DSM.”

It didn’t seem feasible once we really started looking. The houses near downtown were either too expensive, in need of too much care, or just too crappy.

And then we stumbled upon the South Side. It stays pretty separate from the rest of the city, so it was easy to overlook. Once we got in we found it was old, well-established, within walking distance of downtown, and FULL of the kind of brick houses that were really high on our wish list.

We’re on a hill, so we can see for miles to the east. I work from home and we have one car. On the rare occasion that Scott takes the car instead of busing to work, I can walk downtown, and also to restaurants, our favorite bar, and an old Italian grocery.

What’s the most offbeat thing about your home? Rockethaus used to be a duplex, and the previous owners were a mother and adult son who needed full time care. This means it was partially de-duplexed, but still contains four total bedrooms, three family/living rooms, and two kitchens. This was a deal-breaker for other shoppers, but it’s perfect for us. We’re makers. We like to embark upon projects.

Scott pretty much has the run of the downstairs kitchen, in which he bakes cookies, breads, and muffins — when we aren’t brewing beer and I’m not rinsing paintbrushes in that sink. We also have enough space for a storage room, and I’m using part of that space for a screenprint setup.

What’s your favorite feature in the house, offbeat or not? The house-size-to-lot ratio. I didn’t want a big house because I didn’t want a huge lot. I didn’t want to waste all that land! But since we wanted space for each of us to work in, we were ideally shopping for a three bedroom home, even though we probably won’t have kids. It was a problematic balance.

And then we found this space. The lot is barely larger than the house — 50 feet deep and 100 feet long, on a corner. There is very little lawn to take care of, but enough space for a large garden, a rain barrel, compost bin, and outdoor workspace.

What’s the most challenging about this space? How do you deal with the challenge? Our biggest challenge is filling all the space. We’re twentysomethings with a modest budget and apparently super picky taste. We have some plans, but not a ton of time — we bought curtains for the bedroom at the beginning of January and I JUST put them up last week.

The biggest challenge will just be having patience in all the dreams we have for our home.

What’s your favorite feature of your home? Lots of windows.

What’s the most important lesson you’ve learned from this home? Our first apartment was 1 bedroom, 450 sq. feet. Second: two bedrooms, 800 sq. feet, but we mostly lived in the living room/kitchen. Third apartment was a 650 sq. foot studio. We’ve been relearning how to have our own space and not spend every moment together. This is a lesson two only children are very, very happy to learn.

What’s your grandest plan for the space? Me, personally? I want to turn this into an itty bitty urban homestead. All the studio space and project space and gardening land we need. Not to be completely self-reliant, but enough that we supply a lot of our own needs.

What advice do you have for other offbeat homies? Our home is very offbeat because of what makes it right for us. This was our house wishlist:

1. Make it brick.
2. Give it a small lawn, with space for gardening.
3. Must have a garage.
4. Must be close to downtown.
5. Must have ample project space.

This house was on the market forever because it was WEIRD. It has an extra kitchen, the smallest lot ever, and it’s on a busy street. Is it going to be hard for us to sell? Probably. But that extra project kitchen, lack of lawn, and proximity to the action are what make it the perfect house for us.

When we started shopping, I didn’t really think a house was a good choice for us. Once I figured out that we just had to be particular enough to choose a home which matched our very specific needs — which are much different from other home buyers — buying made sense. Offbeat shoppers should be super, super particular about finding the right home for their needs.

Any stuff or services you want to recommend? We have LOVELY ART in our home. Visit Chris Roberts and Van Holmgren‘s sites, and read our post about No Tengo Miedo Clay tomorrow.

Show me the decor porn!