We had them ...sorority row, etc., but not completely renovated and with brand new kitchens like that!

The rent isn't bad for two - $875 a month. It's less than my son was paying for his other house that was half the size.

I also forgot to mention that DS has a washer and dryer, and this house has a huge laundry room.

There are newlyweds living above them and by the website, I assume that they bought their unit. I don't think the owners were able to sell the others in this bad economy, so they are renting the downstairs unit. The other two (the second building that you see in the photo) have not been finished, but are being renovated for the owners to live in. I like this, as they will be able to keep an eye on my son and his friend. Make sure they don't get rowdy and have parties.

Mother of All! What a lucky son! I'm drooling. I'm 38 and don't live somewhere 1/10th that nice, I can imagine what it would be like to live in such a gorgeous place in my early 20s. We had NOTHING like that near the U of Maine. I wonder if it's an urban thing? (Can't speak about sorority/fraternity row, since I wasn't in the Greek system - I dropped out of rush two days into the week because NO ONE would talk to me, like I had leprosy or something. Not pretty/rich/perky enough for the social-type sororities, not smart enough for the academically-oriented ones. Joining a sorority had been pushed on me a little by my dad for future networking rather than the immediate social aspects, not that I told anyone that! 'most all of the houses looked rather ratty and undermaintained outside though, except for a couple of the rich-boy frats. Y'know, the ones where the only reason they're going to a state school is because Daddy couldn't buy their way in anywhere better.) The apartment housing available to students within walking/biking distance to campus was virtually all, well, what you'd expect for student-type apartments. Not quite "Animal House" but not very far from it. DH and I thought we had pretty good digs when we rented the apartment I've written about before, the quarter of an old farmhouse with the toilet in the kitchen! LOL It was less than 10 minutes' drive from campus (even though it was two towns away) so we counted ourselves lucky compared to what we saw closer to campus that was feasible on a student budget. *shudder*

The nicest place I lived in while I was in college was a townhouse that was formerly part of base family housing when the Bangor Airport was Dow Air Force Base, but maaaaaan it was "ugly with a capital UG". Those of you who have lived in 1960s-era base housing know exactly what I mean! LOL But, we had a kitchen and bathroom where everything worked consistently, it was an end unit so we didn't get as much noise through the paper-thin walls as the middle units, we could have our little hibachis outside and it was such a far cry from our previous place, which was actually condemned for being in such dangerously bad structural condition (we called the city the day after we moved out) that we thought it was practically palatial! It was 20 minutes' drive to campus though, which was kind of a drag, and it took at least four, preferably five of us to make the rent for that tiny little 3br1ba townhouse.

If I'd been able to live in a place like this, I might never have left school! :-) (Actually, the only reason we left the Bangor area was that there were basically no jobs paying a living wage, unless you wanted to suck poisonous fumes at the paper mill or could wangle a job at the University which was nearly impossible.)

BTW, I was able to get 2" faux-wood blinds from Penneys for under $20 per window recently, and I have had the Savannah cordless pleated shade which is currently in the outlet area for a cheap price. There's a free shipping coupon out now - code REFRESH - which is good until 4/10. Might be cheaper than buying curtains, even at somewhere like Walmart.

What a great place. And what good taste those kids have! :) craigslist and yard sales will serve them well for furnishings.

Yes, you can find old housing like that near some campuses, but at least where I went to school (big state university), some of it is slowly getting knocked down and replaced with higher-density housing and parking. I don't even recognize some of the close-in parts of the campus I attended (muffled-number) years ago.

Thanks for sharing pics.

"muffled numbers" That's a new one! LOL

Chattanooga is a historic town and they are working very hard to preserve the city.

johnmari - Thank you for the Penny's information. The windows in this condominium are not the standard height, therefore that's why I am thinking inexpensive curtain panels. Also, I don't think they want to drill holes in those pretty window frames. I am a little surprised that the owners have not provided some type of window treatment...just so the renters don't mess up that trim.

Some lucky fraternity brothers at Berkeley live in a Greene and Greene house.

That is something!

Take a look at these houses at the University of SC. Brand new GREEK neighborhood.

www.sa.sc.edu/greeklife/frathouses.htm

www.sa.sc.edu/greeklife/sorhouses.htm

I would love to live in a place like that! What a great price, too. My son and his three roommates at school pay $1,500 a month for a ratty little apartment and the bedrooms are the size of a small walk-in closet. Off-campus housing landlords tend to rip off the students (AKA--parents)--hope your son's landlord continues to set a fair price.

Check out Redi-Shades. They are paper pleated shades that do not require any drilling into walls or woodwork. The adhesive does not leave residue. I know this from personal experience. They use to be a buck per window and I know the price has gone up over time but it is cheaper and may even look better than investing in drapes. They now offer vinyl and fabric besides the paper ones, and both black out and light filtering ones.

jboling - That stinks! The rent will remain the same for a year per - contract. My concern is that the condo will go on sale again after the lease is up. This could leave the boys in limbo to find another place that they may not need for a whole year. Finding something without having to sign a years lease is a real pain.

dilly_dally - The ready Shade only comes in lengths to 72". Most of the windows have got to be longer than that. The shade would work in the bathroom, so I'll tell my son to go ahead and get one of those. Thanks for the suggestion.

We have had the ready Shades before, but didn't have much luck with them sticking very well. I think the trick is to make sure the surface is clean and dry...no construction dust. lol I wonder how they hold up in heat?

Well, my son closed on his rental deal today and is getting excited about the move.

Coincidentally, my daughter also found a place to live. She will be renting a condo in our town. It's been busy around here!

The photos remind me of my college apartment. I was fortunate to live in an appt. off campus. It was an antebellum house in DT Charleston SC. It had been through the Charleston earthquake in the late 1800's.

Yes, because dorm space is at a premium, a lot of CoC students live off campus in these type homes. lsst, did you go to the College of Charleston? My niece is there now, and another on the way next fall. My daughter had planned to go there, but decided last minute to stay in TN. The heat was too much for her, although we visit the area just about every year. lol My niece is planning on going off campus next year.

Beautiful! These are not anything like our dorms were. My daughter has had 3 years of fabulous on-campus housing at her college in Boston. This year her dorm has a center island and every conceivable convenience. For example: she can check her laundry from her laptop to see if it's done. Imagine that! This year's dorm is brand new.

Her first dorm was more like you sons, it was a brownstone that had been bought by the university and totally renovated.

Let's not forget: we're paying big time for these dorms!

I had my clothes stolen out of the laundry room when I was in college, so computer "notification" would be wonderful!

Heh, the DORMS when I was in college were another story completely... two people in a bare concrete room approximately 12x15 (based on mental comparison with my living room) with two tiny closets, two tiny bookshelves, two small dressers, two narrow twin beds and two desks. Those of us who hated the stacked bunkbeds (I would wake up every time the person in the other bunk moved) would put our beds up on cinderblocks to get more storage underneath. One semester several hundred freshmen had to "triple up" due to overcrowding, three people in the same room made for two, which drove them all bats. Bathroom down the hall and I remember waiting in line for showers. It was a very big deal the year before I started that microwaves were finally allowed in the dorm rooms; there was a kitchen of sorts in the basement but no utensils and if you left anything unattended it was stolen immediately. The only apartments on campus were for students who were married or had children, and they were DUMPS segregated well away from the rest of the campus. It wasn't until a few years after I graduated that they even put phones in the individual rooms (twice I had the misfortune of living across the hall from the phone booth and just to stop the bloody thing ringing and ringing and ringing I was stuck answering it and chasing down the person the call was for), and a year or two after THAT that they got Ethernet and cable TV. Now it's all wireless, of course, and you don't even have to physically go to some classes - you can watch the lectures from your dorm room!

Laundry... People would swipe chairs from the lounge to bring down to the laundry room and study while their clothes were washing/drying - you just didn't leave your laundry down there, you might never see it again. Or someone might take it out of the washer and drop it on the floor because you weren't there the exact second the washer stopped and they wanted to wash their clothes Right Now. I have no idea how it was that people got so vindictive about washing machines, but it got ugly down there. Sometimes we'd bribe one person to mind several people's washing at a time! I took the bribes (which could get pretty good LOL) fairly regularly if I needed to study anyway, because I could read or work on a paper (yes, in longhand! horrors!) just as well in the laundry room as in my room or the study lounge.

I moved off campus in my third year just to save my sanity. I had a succession of really horrible apartments but it was still better than the dorms, and cost about the same. My folks weren't paying after my first year, I was relying on financial aid and working, so if I was going to put myself hip-deep in hock for college I wasn't going to spend it on the dorms.

My husband and I went down to Chattanooga and took an SUV full of area rugs, furniture, and accessories to my son and his roommate.

All items were either already in my house, donated, bought on CL, or at sales. The curtains and sheers are not perfect in length, but they were all purchased on CL for $100. They do the job of keeping out weather, and also providing needed window coverage/privacy from the outside.

My daughter donated some curtain rods, and many accessories, including the candle holders and mix matched candles. She also donated the bakers rack, the sink rug and some kitchen accessories. We did have to go out and buy a couple of other curtain rods for the front and back doors, plus several tension rods for the other window treatments.

We took a bunch of framed water colors that were painted by my son's grandmother. We didn't get a chance to hang them, but the guys promised they would get the job done this week. :)

The 4 fold Toile screen was $30, and the foyer painting was $10. All from CL. The area rugs were remnants that I bought for Fred's and Lowe's, and found in our basement. I bought the 4 cushions from TJ Max intended for the window seat. They can be placed anywhere in the room as needed seating.

The kitchen table and coffee table were unfinished pieces that came from my house. I threw a little stain on them. My son already had the futon. His roommate had an old dresser in the storage closet. It lost a drawer in the move (fell out of the truck), so he didn't want to use it. I suggested that we bring it out and use as a sofa table behind the futon. I bought two buffet lamps for $15 at Wal*Mart and we place them on the sofa table.

I even made my son and his roommate a framed initial. look for it on the fireplace mantel. Both guys have a last name that starts with "H".

I have attached some photos of the "after" decorating.

My son's room

Roommate's (he is a little neater than my son)

Bathroom (we added the shade and valance, toilet paper holder, plus a new space saving toilet shelf that I purchased at BBB bought for half price. The box said that the bottom railing was missing, but when we opened the box, the bar was indeed there. The shower curtain came over from DS previous rental.

The guys seemed very pleased with their transformation, and I really enjoyed helping out on a shoestring budget.

Hope I didn't bore anyone...thanks for looking!

Wow, what a great space! I got a kick out of the quilt on the bed, does your son know the name of it? ;)

They have good taste, either in their decorating style or in letting you decorate it.

My youngest has lived in the dorms all four years, in a dorm called apartment style. She has her own bedroom, shares a bath with one roommate and the unit has a living room/dining room. This year they have a kitchen in their unit also. Sure not what I had in college - shared room with a walk down the hall to a community bathroom.

Yes, the guys seemed to like the looks of most everything I brought. They didn't complain, and only gave back a couple of items that couldn't be used.

The quilt is in the other boy's bedroom. I think his mother gave it to him. I don't know if it is a true quilt, or just one of those bedspread look-a-likes. It looked well loved. :)

That house reminds me of my house! In our area, there is mostly victorians and very few craftsman era homes. Funny, we call our house a frat house.

My son shared a small apartment in San Francisco and our share of his rent was $1000. *because * he took the smaller bedroom. His room mate paid more because he had his own bathroom. Very reasonable rent, for sure.

golddust - I would love to see your home. :)

$1000 for 1/2 rent! WOW!!!

There is only one bath in this condo and the boys bedrooms are the same size.

I was just in Chattanooga over Easter and they are really putting a lot of money in the down town area.

Great house your son lives in!

Here's my house. The outside looks different but the inside could be a second cousin.

newdawn1895 - Not only in the downtown areas, but the art district and the Riverview districts are all undergoing fabulous transformations. Chattanooga is such a neat town. I wish I had taken a photograph of my sons street. The avenue was absolutely beautiful! Most of the houses and yards were well kept, and the flowering trees were gorgeous hanging over the street. :)

golddust - First of all, I wanted to tell you how much I love your dog. What a cutie!

Secondly...what a tub! I love large old tubs like the claw-foot that my son has. I asked the guys if either had taken a bath and they answered "no" because they were using the tub as a storage place for their bathroom supplies. Now that we have provided a space saver tower over the toilet, the tub is now free for bathing. LOL

You are so lucky to have many of the original features, like the built-ins. Your kitchen appliances are tops!

I would love to know the date that my son's place was built, and also the history. Guess I'll have to ask the owners.

Thanks! Here is another link to our big fat mess we have going on upstairs. It's hopefully going to be a bathroom when we're finished. LOL!

There's another picture of Ernie too.

I lived in a house in college that was similar...we had wood columns between the living and dining rooms (we just used them both as living rooms), a three season side porch and another porch at the front of the house, and a very vintage bathroom. I think the light switches were buttons, too.

No way...here's the google street view from right outside my old house!!! It looks exactly the same!

jean! What a beautiful house. The 'For Rent' sign in the front yard is there for all time with google.

My house is much plainer that the one you lived in but we live rurally in California. No Joneses to keep up with around here.

I fell in love with this style of house when I lived in The Bay Area and felt so lucky to be able to buy mine.

golddust - Looks like y'all are having fun with your renovation! I love all the items that have been found behind the walls.

jeanninepc99 - I just love Google street view. That was my fisrt real glimps of the area my son would be living in.

What a charming house, and I love all the decorating that you've done! What a nice mom! They seem very happy with it.

A great deal too. I'm sure it's all relative, but here in So Cal my daughter is paying $750 rent for her share of a house she rents with several other students. She has her own bedroom and bathroom and it's less expensive than the dorm, but yikes!

YIKES is right.

Thank you for the compliment! Just sent my son another care package of curtains. LOL