HABERAE 

"The most responsible way to buy clothes is to shop at Goodwill. And the most responsible way to build is to recycle an old building."

~Yvon Chouinard, Founder of Patagonia

 "I'm making a sign that will hang in our house that will read "Last Rental". We hope you will accept our offer (we insist actually) to hire you two to design the home that we will soon buy. We love it here because this property was built with love. Thank you so much for sharing that love with us! "

~ Ray Wiedefeld, DeLuxe resident

 We have been trying to get our hands on this building for FIVE years!   The DeLuxe Laundry was built in 1950 by the Kolbet family who operated the business for the next 46 years.  After retiring, the Kolbets sold the building and for the next several years it was seriously neglected.  The taggers and vandals found it, weeds popped up and before long Reno had one more eyesore. 

Our vision for this 60 year old structure of solid brick revolved around its magnificent 24 foot domed roof.  With an exposed wood plank ceiling, curved steel trusses, and brick pllars every 16 feet we realized we had a perfect footprint for 10 loft residences.  

Our philosophy for transforming blighted areas of our town includes incorporating mixed uses for the buildings we acquire.  This ensures a 24 hour presence which tends to liven an otherwise dead area of the city.  Thus, this project will  include a cafe and an art gallery, and will be known as Dozen @ the DeLuxe.  

Dozen @ the DeLuxe residences features incredible 24 foot ceilings, exposed steel trusses and wooden ceilings.   A full second story loft with more than 300 square feet to create, sleep, meditate or ???. Two bedrooms, one bath with fullsize washer/dryers, dishwasher, polished concrete floors, custom bath tile and very modern, industrial, hipster interiors in a spacious 900 square feet.  We have diamond plated steel backsplashes in kitchen and bath made from the steel found in the floors of the building during construction (remember, reuse and recycle!)  Full commercial windows and entry doors of glass to let in all the natural light the Sierras have to offer.

This project was completed on November 1, 2012 and new residents are now enjoying their urban environment. 

Many thanks to Laura Davis for her article about the project in Reno News and Review, November 2012.

                                            The Deluxe before...

The DeLuxe after

Residence 5