Melcliff Apartments

As I grow older, I understand myself better. I realized now, that I’m an urban person. I love to live right in the inner city. Who cares about bums and crazy people? They are everywhere. Who cares about noise? Traffic noise, train noise, club noise, drunk hipsters chatters on the street are my entertainment.
Melcliff Apartments was my home for two years and it’s right in the inner southeast Portland. I rented a one bedroom apartment for $ 675 a month. 550 square feet with hidden closet space. Yes it’s spendy, yes it’s tiny. However, it’s cozy, and I love the view from my bedroom window. I had the full view of downtown Portland skyline, from the Big Pink building down all the way to The Marriott. To tell you the truth, the view was the reason that I rented this apartment. I’m a sucka for beautiful view of my city.
My apartment had hardwood floors, murphy bed that I didn’t use and became a storage space. A tiny kitchen with a tiny stove, and not enough counter space. The kitchen was the challenge for me. I love to cook a lot, but not in that kitchen. However, I love the claw foot bath tub. It was a perfect bath tub to take a hot bath. I spent couple hours in that tub just read and relaxing. I really miss the bath tub, considering my current place bath tub is a bad one.
My bedroom wall was literally sharing walls with Holocene. I could hear all songs they were playing there from the techno up to the live music performances. I’ve never had problem falling asleep because of it. I actually like it.
Melcliff Apartments is a building with history. It was built in 1915 and used to be a hotel. It’s five stories high and every single floor has different character to it. The stairs are creaked, the elevator is old and gated. They did some renovation to the interior of the building, I hope they will never change the outside look of it. I love the brick and rustic look of The Melcliff.
I had good times and bad times here. Apartment number 3 was the place that I came home to after a short walk from work. Yes, I used to work 10 minutes away (walking time) from this building. Sassy’s, Morrison’s st bar & grill, Roadside Attraction, Jolly Roger, Zell’s, Crush, Hungry Tiger Too, Biwa, Grand Central Bowl, Hawthorne’s Cart Pod, all are about 2 minutes — 10 minutes walk. How could I not love this building?
Yes, sometimes it took a while to get your maintenance problems fixed, but overall they are nice and friendly. One other thing that I also missed from The Melcliff, is the «free table». People can put their unwanted belongings on this table. I’ve got clothes, books, movies, furnitures, and even old Playboy magazines (that I sold on Ebay) from here.
As I grow older, I also realized that I’m in need of bigger space right now. So I said goodbye to The Melcliff, but that doesn’t mean that I don’t miss it everyday. I miss it dearly, and one of these days when I make more money and one of those longtime residents in two bedroom apartments move away… I might come back and stay for a while. Till then, I have memories of my time there.

When first moving here my friend found this place for me. I have not seen the other apartments available so only have my impression based off my tiny studio.
Month-​to-​Month lease
Pros: 1.) Amazing closet space:
A.)There was once a murphy bed hidden behind a full size wall panel mirror then turned closet. (awesome!)
B.)Long Walk-​in closet
2.) Hardwood floors/​claw foot tub
3.) Fantastic old gated elevator
4.) Young hip crowd with free table in basement
(used frequently and awesome)
5.) Cityscape view off back fire escape
A.) uninterrupted view perfect for sunsets
4.) French door balcony for every floor
5.) Courtyard entrance
CONS: 1.) Pretty expensive.
2.) Hot water after widdershins and wishing real hard.
A.) Although hot water in shower always prompt.
3.) Can hear everything through walls (I do mean everything)
4.) Super small kitchen (2 people swirl dance cooking)
It’s a matter of taste.
Between the two of us living there I loved the small space and we really worked it into an amazing studio. We kept open the Murphy bed mirror door to create two spaces. Created a hanging pot and pan rack with vines. Our tiny bathroom had a door attachment that gave us more shelf space. Our beds acted as couches with a few giant pillows. We loved it and made it a great home for a year. Oh bohemia.
Not for those who are not creative in small spaces. Unless you want bohemian? This is the small overpriced place for you!