Name: Mike and Gretchen Apgar
Occupation: Internet entrepreneurs (proprietors of Speakeasy Networks)
Neighborhood: Capitol Hill
Why do you live here?
Gretchen: We got a great building and the best apartment in it. Fifth floor, 1,200 square feet, built in 1902, high ceilings.
Mike: Great view. Two claw-foot bathtubs. The rent is also great.
Gretchen: Brick walls, big windows; any time New York friends come to visit they’re jealous because it’s the dream Manhattan apartment—only not in Manhattan.
How long have you lived here?
Mike: Two and a half years.
How did you find this place?
Mike: A friend.
Gretchen: Insider information.
Mike: Soon as I saw it, I jumped on my motorcycle, grabbed Gretchen, we had a look, took it immediately.
To what extent does this space reflect you, your personality, your tastes?
Mike: Well, the owners don’t let you make any modifications, won’t let you paint, won’t let you add any fixtures, so it had to fit us as is.
Gretchen: We didn’t have the time to make a big project of it anyway.
What would you say your “style” is, as shown by how you put your place together?
Gretchen: I think both of us appreciate things that have some kind of handmade quality, I don’t know if you want to call it folk. We’re eclectic, actually, no one genre.
Mike: We’ve been together 10 years and most of that time we slept on a futon. Just last year we got an actual bed and couch.
Gretchen: An antique bed frame. We had a friend modify it. You want a sturdy bed.
What do you value most about this space?
Gretchen: It’s our safe haven.
Mike: It’s spacious and quiet, fairly open—one very large room, only one door. Incredible view.
What are the benefits to living in this area/neighborhood? Disadvantages?
Mike: It fits our lifestyle. An 11-minute commute.
Gretchen: The biggest advantage is Madison Market practically across the street.
Mike: We go there three times a week.
Gretchen: Just-in-time inventory.
Mike: They have a great deli; during the work week, we just get dinner out of the deli.
Gretchen: And we have parking. The biggest negative is the traffic on Madison. . . .
Mike: Water pressure?
Gretchen: Oh, right, the WATER pressure. And the wiring; when I use my professional sewing machine, I cause a brown-out. Even a vacuum in the wrong plug. . . .
What is your favorite feature inside your home? Favorite object?
Mike: We like the collection of it all; there’s no one piece we just love. We really like our bed.
Where do you buy things for your home?
Mike: Garage and estate sales.
Gretchen: My late mother had an antique collection, so at a very young age I had a dining-room table and stuff like that you usually don’t have when you’re young. The buffet we found the last place we lived, in the Rainier Cold Storage Facility in Georgetown. And we go to the Fremont Sunday Market.
Mike: Gretchen goes weekly.
Do you ever worry that you’ll have to move?
Mike: Yeah, we do, mainly because it’s renting and with a rental you never know.
Gretchen: But Seattle’s not the most conducive place to think about buying. . . .
