I like old buildings and apartments, I adore them. I like the quirks and little signs of the times when they were created. Take Redmont Gardens, many of the apartments have two doors. One goes right into the kitchen the other into the living room. Now the kithcen ones are blocked by the refridgerator and are no longer in use, but when the apartments were originally built that door was used for the hired help to come in during the day. There are lockable French doors that effectively block off the kitchen/dining area from the rest of the house. When these apartments were originally built (in the 1930s) it was cheap and easy to get domestic workers to come each day. Of course nobody does that anymore, but I like the quirk of having that there.

Now here comes the problems. The kitchen sink is useless. It is old, but it is not the original. The sinks in my apartment were from the fifties in both the bathroom and the kitchen. They have not been upgraded since. The problem is that for today's modern lifestyle they really are not that practical, and since they are not the original sinks they are not retro either. Retro sinks from the time period in the bathroom would have seperate hot and cold water taps, but in the late fifties Redmont Gardens was likely remodelled, it should have been remodelled more recently but it hasn't. For someone who eats out most nights the kitchen may not be an issue, but for someone who does more than microwave there food or boil water for Ramen noodles the kitchen is near useless.

The problem is this: the Redmont Gardens needs to be completely gutted and remodelled, but in all likelyhood there is lead paint on the walls and asbestos in the pipes. When you do a proper job you would have to remove all the asbestos and sand all the lead paint off the walls, a costly and time-consuming process. But without doing that you end up with impractical sinks, and resorting to a washer/dryer combination that takes three and a half hours to do one load.

Among other problems with this complex is the parking situation. If you have the unfortunate experience of arriving late at night, especially on a Sunday, it is almost impossible to find a spot. People resort to parking on the grass, or you have to park in the two hours parking in English Village and hope you don't get a ticket. Also people are not very good parkers so expect to get dinged in the regular spots and bumped every now and then in the parallel parking spots.

If you walk outside in the evening, which I advise since it is a very nice neighborhood, you will see a number of of Redmont Gardens residents outside talking on their cell phones. The problem is that the apartments all have pretty hardwoods which reflect sounds. Now this wouldn't be a problem if the doors were properly insulated and weather stripped, but since the doors have not been properly maintained it allows sound to travel directly into the hallway and thus directly into the ears of your neighbors. I have lived in old apartments like this before, but this one is by far the worst as far as sound goes. Of course getting a nice rug or two in each apartment is helpful, but the doors can absorb much more sound if properly insulated.

The wasted potential of the Redmont Gardens is a shame. It is in a great location, with beautiful trees and great places to walk. Hopefully someday they will get an owner with enough vision and resourcefulness to really make the place something special.

User Responses
From: Anonymous	Date: 08/22/2008
I agree with you that the location of these apartments is great and it is GENERALLY a safe area, but I was sexually harrassed in the laundry room at Redmont and the staff did absolutely nothing to help me out & never did warn the other residents of this incident. I would be cautious of walking around alone outside at night!

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