Living where you work...anyone done it?

[CrazedClerkthe2nd]

I was driving by a business earlier today that was on the first floor of two story building. The second floor seemed to be private, either an apartment or housing of some kind.

So I got to thinking. What it would be like to live upstairs and work downstairs in the same building? I know a lot of people have done it but I think for me it would be different spending the vast majority of my life in a single place. I tend to think of work and home as separate.

Anyone have experience doing this?

[Merriweather]

I was driving by a business earlier today that was on the first floor of two story building. The second floor seemed to be private, either an apartment or housing of some kind.

So I got to thinking. What it would be like to live upstairs and work downstairs in the same building? I know a lot of people have done it but I think for me it would be different spending the vast majority of my life in a single place. I tend to think of work and home as separate.

Anyone have experience doing this?

Never done it, but assuming the location were good for both business and for living, I think it would be brilliant - as long as it were MY business. If I were starting a business, say a gift or some other shop, it would be great to be able to put in a litle extra time on odd touches here and there without going far, or check on something on the spur of the moment. Also nice to pop "home" for a quick bite or mini-chore. Now, if it grew to be a much larger business, and I didn't run it so "hands on" as you do a new business, I might want to move then.

But to live over someone else's business that I worked, at nope - unless, of course, I got free rent or other perks just for "keeping a bit of an eye on the place" or something.

[Erin]

My aunt and uncle used to run a donut shop back in the early 70s and they lived above the shop in a really nice apartment. I dont remember if my uncle liked the job much tho...he was one of those who changed jobs every few years. The several years he worked at the donut store were pretty nice...we'd get free donuts all the time.

I think my aunt and the one kid they had at the time seemed to really like the apartment and the fact that my uncle was not far away was probably pretty nice.

[gaspode]

I did it when we ran pubs,the good thing about this was that all bills were paid,but the major down side is that your never off duty because even when your closed somebody seems to be ringing the doorbell or the phone is ringing with people asking stupid questions.

[draftermatt]

When my grandfather built a house for himself and my grandmother in 1954 he built his dental office attached to it. So his patients came to his house to get their teeth cleaned.

He worked out of that office until his death in 1986.

[telecom_goddess]

I know someone who does it now for a storage company. She's the manager of a property and lives in an apartment attached to the property. So it's convenient I'm sure...NO commute. But it makes it hard to call in sick I imagine.

Perks include free rent, free electricity, free air conditioning, plus a salary.

But when you change jobs you HAVE to find a new place to live also which could be a pain.

[orcprincess]

I used to work on a cruise ship....so, yup. sure did. Best experience ever. Right now I live across the street from where I work (about 5 min walk) that is turning out to be a bigger hassle and more stress than the ship gig.

[TelephoneAngel]

My parents had a great story about that, back in the 50s when they were going out together, it was very late at night and they were passing a jewellers shop.My dad was joking about and said "if the shop was open, I would buy you an engagement ring"
In the spirit of things my mother said "if you could buy an engagement ring right now, I would say yes"

They walked a bit further down the street then were called back by a guy who had come out of the jewellers, having heard them talking and come downstairs from his flat.

Of course dad had to buy the ring and mum had to agree to marry him right then and there!

[Magpie]

I also know someone who lived in one of the above-shop apartments who had absolutely no connection to the shops below, the apartments just happened to be there. (It was a horrible location, as there was a beauty salon underneath them, but it was centrally located...)

[technical.angel]

Our entire downtown is like that. The first floor of the buildings are businesses, and the top 2 floors are apartments. The problem is that the rent is horribly expensive.

[Pairou]

My parents had a great story about that, back in the 50s when they were going out together, it was very late at night and they were passing a jewellers shop.My dad was joking about and said "if the shop was open, I would buy you an engagement ring"
In the spirit of things my mother said "if you could buy an engagement ring right now, I would say yes"

They walked a bit further down the street then were called back by a guy who had come out of the jewellers, having heard them talking and come downstairs from his flat.

Of course dad had to buy the ring and mum had to agree to marry him right then and there!

That is actually really cute...

[bhskittykatt]

Boss Man lives on site here. It does have it's perks, such as free rent and utilities and no commute, but of course it means he's never not at work, so that's a big downside.

I had a friend who lived above the carwash where, she worked, and that was her biggest complaint. Your always sort of on call and it's very difficult to separate personal from work life.

[CrazedClerkthe2nd]

My parents had a great story about that, back in the 50s when they were going out together, it was very late at night and they were passing a jewellers shop.My dad was joking about and said "if the shop was open, I would buy you an engagement ring"
In the spirit of things my mother said "if you could buy an engagement ring right now, I would say yes"

They walked a bit further down the street then were called back by a guy who had come out of the jewellers, having heard them talking and come downstairs from his flat.

Of course dad had to buy the ring and mum had to agree to marry him right then and there!

Everyone together now: "Awwwwwwwww"



Seriously, that's a really sweet story. Thanks for sharing.

[Chromatix]

My parents now live in a house that must be about 250 years old.

At that time, it was actually quite normal to build quite a big house on top of your place of business, especially if you were a craftsman. Your entire extended family would then live with you, your sons and grandsons would apprentice wth you, and you and they would support the whole family by your work.

The place is so big that the former workshop has been turned into two shops (which they don't own or run), a storage area (which they do), and two separate houses that are quite spacious in their own right. They use half of it as a holiday-accommodation business, and live in the other half.

They bought it cheap because it was practically falling apart. They usually do that.

[Zoom]

One of my ex-CWs used to sleep in the store's breakroom whenever his wife was pissed off at him. Heck, just about everyone was pissed off at him at one time or another.

Then the store stopped being 24/7, which coincidentally was about the same time he stopped working here.