home & garden

Three's no crowd in
downtown loft

WRITTEN & PHOTOGRAPHED BY Liz Breault

Three young adults with artistic bents still can’t believe their good fortune in moving into the Arbor Lofts on Lancaster Boulevard, part of Lancaster’s effort to transform its downtown into a destination for arts, dining and entertainment.

Artist Christine Saunders, 28, her boyfriend, 25-year-old Byron Gatt, and their roommate, 25-year-old Greg Checchi, live in one of the lofts.

Before they moved there this year, Christine rented a room in a house in Santa Clarita, while Byron and Greg shared a small apartment near California State University, Northridge. Byron graduated last May; Greg is still in school. Both are screenwriting majors and make films.

Christine, who graduated in 2005 with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from California State University, Long Beach, is the artist who qualified for their loft.

The Arbor Lofts are for those pursuing visual arts careers. Another building is under construction for those involved in performing arts. It will be called Arbor on Date.

Still finding her way in the art world, Christine has tried jewelry-making, sculpture, and print-making. Her current passion is drawing and illustration. She also loves and collects Blythe dolls.

“They are from the ’70s. I’m attracted to them because they are creepy looking with big eyes and over-sized heads. They are more like art pieces. I customize them by painting their faces, changing their hair, and making their clothes. I love their mod, retro funkiness,” she explained.

She can add interior and exterior design to her skill-set list. Her art room showcases living spaces for her dolls. And Byron proudly demonstrates a working chandelier in one of the houses.

A blank canvas

Arbor Lofts is a modern structure with industrial details such as diamond-plate steel on the stairs and stained-concrete floors.

The unit that Christine, Byron and Greg are in is on the top floor, which gives them a skylight in the bonus room that can be used as a studio.

In addition to the bonus room, their unit has four bedrooms and two bathrooms. The all-electric modern kitchen comes with appliances and opens into a large living area.

Two balconies give them access to the outdoors and a view to the east.

Creativity plays a big part in how their loft is furnished and arranged.

Greg’s bedroom is downstairs, off the living room. His bathroom is the downstairs bathroom that also serves as the guest bathroom.

“The first thing I thought about after we moved in is that we should buy towels that match,” Greg said.

The focal point of the living area is a bright, kiwi-green wall along one side.

Byron and his dad painted the wall while Christine and her mom shopped for some of the necessities—such as towels.

“They (builder InSite Development) told us we could paint the walls any color we want; they even provided the paint,” Christine said.

The living room furniture is modern to match the loft, sort of.

“We actually bought it for movie props, but knew it would be perfect for here,” Byron said.

“We found it on Craigslist,” Byron and Greg said simultaneously.

Furniture wasn’t all Byron found on the Internet. He and Christine met through match.com.

As for Greg, he and Byron have been friends since high school.

On a tight budget, the young trio has to be innovative.

“The glass base of our dining table broke when we moved in. I found two storage cubes at Target that are sturdy enough to hold the glass top,” Byron said.

Byron chose black cubes that match the modern-style couch. Best of all is how he arranged them. The open space faces up on the top cube. When you look through the glass you see a silver-tone starburst clock lying flat on the bottom of the cube.

“That’s our decoration, and we plan to change it often,” Byron said, laughing at himself for finding a clever place for the clock. “Maybe we’ll put a pumpkin in there for Halloween.

A pillar for all seasons

The three turned to look at a load-bearing pillar that is prominent in the living room.

“We plan to decorate that, too,” they declared.

Christine envisioned covering it with faux fur. Byron thought spider webs for Halloween would look good, which reminded Greg that Christmas is right around the corner so his idea is to hang tinsel from it and put presents underneath.

That’s when they decided it should be a seasonal pillar.

The trio tends to agree on many things.

“It’s easy to live together because we all have different schedules,” Christine said.

“We all cook. In fact, I feel like cooking steak right now,” Greg said.

All three like the concrete floor because it doesn’t hurt anything when they “spill stuff.” Although, Greg thinks they should get some chalk to leave messages for each other
on the floor, and Byron wants to get a rug for under the couch and coffee table.

Christine thinks they live in an amazing place.

“It’s so cool because we know everyone who lives here,” she said.

“And we’re all like-minded people,” Greg added.

Showtime

So far nine of the 21 units are rented, and 10 more applications are in on the remaining 12 units.

But as nice as the units are, the crown jewel of Arbor Lofts is its on-site gallery. The Lofts Gallery is for the residents to use. They can show their own work or curate and invite other artists. It’s up to them.

“The gallery show changes every 30 days, and if the residents don’t have work ready to show or aren’t able to curate, I step in and curate,” said Amanda Gattenby Johnson, project manager for InSite Development, the Encino-based company that built the Arbor Lofts.

“The gallery will be open more as the residents are able to take it over. Right now, I open it every Tuesday from 10 am to 2 pm.”

Christine was excited that she already got to show some of her work.

The next show features ceramicist Nicole Moan, and opening festivities will be from 6 to 10 pm, Nov. 6.

One thing everyone is looking forward to are the changes to downtown Lancaster.

“It’s exciting. So much is happening downtown, and so many things will be within walking distance. Right now we really like going downstairs to eat at the Lemon Leaf Cafe,” Christine said.

“We’re going to try the Brooklyn Deli next, and there’s so much more being built,” Byron added.       

Christine spoke for all of them when she said, “It’s so cool here; we are still in shock. It’s absolutely surreal.”

For information on Arbor Lofts and its gallery shows, go to
www.http://artistlofts.tumblr.com.