"Chilled by Choice," a
New York Times trend piece about creative types "living nearly without heat by choice, and doing just fine, thank you very much," includes some Lawrenceville artists in the mix of the frugal furnace-free.
States the article, "Many [of those chilled by choice] belong to that hardy genus Artista domestica, a group unusually skilled at foraging in urban frontiers, and long-known for sacrificing 'normal' creature comforts in favor of other boons like low overhead and capacious, atmospheric habitats. Why they stick it out, and how they cope, are object lessons in creative adaptation fueled by thrift, environmentalism and a commitment to unique real estate. (Denial and long underwear help, too.)"
Among the Artista domestica are Daniel McCloskey and his roommates. Last year, McCloskey, 22, bought two poorly insulated turn-of-the-century clapboard houses in Lawrenceville for $41,000, and turned them into a writer's retreat called the Cyberpunk Apocalypse Writer's Co-op, which offers month-long residencies to emerging writers. There's a furnace, but finances are low so it mostly stays off, and the wood stove in the kitchen is occasionally fueled by free lumber from a friend who is clearing land nearby.
"Doesn't his girlfriend, with whom he shares a drafty attic room, get grumpy?" the Times asks. To which McCloskey responds, "What makes her grumpy is using resources. We're all about staying positive."
Click here to read the complete New York Times article.
Sign up to receive Pop City each week.