A STUDIO FOR THREE
Who: Erin Feher Montoya, an editor for the parenting website Red Tricycle; Danny Montoya, a woodworker; and their 1-year-old daughter, Orion, share a 500-square-foot studio in the Tenderloin/Mid-Market area.
How long have you lived here?
Erin: We’ve been here for seven years. Danny had lived in the Tenderloin since 1997, and I was in the Inner Mission at the time. We were planning to move in together and wanted to be somewhere central. When we found this building, we fell in love with it right away. It’s a 1908 printing and storage facility that was converted into efficiency lofts. It has a sense of history and felt substantial, unlike the new condos we were looking at.
Danny: It all came down to convenience: The farmers’ market and BART station are right here. We were going on bike trips to Europe, and it was so easy to get to SFO.
What did you do to customize your space?
Danny: We both love cooking, so one of the first things we did was to upgrade the kitchen, which had this two-burner electric stove and a convection oven the size of a large microwave. I made a loft for the bedroom and also built floating bookshelves with a library ladder.
Erin: The ceilings are high, so we maximized the space by building upwards. Usually when people come over, they think the space is about twice as big as it actually is.
How has your home changed post-baby?
Erin: Danny built a custom crib beneath the loft, which has eight storage bins underneath for her clothes and extra diapers. He also made a beautiful toy bin for all her toys, but that’s about it. We’re really committed to being as minimalist as possible.
Danny: We use the common spaces in the building more. We’ll go down to the basement and she’ll run around there. Or we’ll take her up to the roof, which is really nice with bamboo and such. The neighborhood has lots of great resources — we go to the local library, playground and community garden.
What is it like raising a family in the city?
Erin: People think living in the city is expensive, but it might actually be easier and cheaper. If you actually sat down and compared expenses, our mortgage might be more, but we don’t have a car. We can just hop on a bike, bus or train. There’s so much to do here — we have our Exploratorium and Academy of Sciences passes, and a huge number of parent friends. There are a lot of young families here now. It’s a really cool time to be a family in the city.
Is there anything you would like to
change?
Danny: The only thing, which is probably true of any city living situation, is the noise. It would be nice if the planning code required buildings to have more soundproofing so that you didn’t hear people living above you. I also wish the city could sort out the drug-dealing stuff on Seventh and Market, and figure out some sort of policy for U.N. Plaza — it’s like “Mad Max” there. It’s just weird that the center of our city, which is so close to City Hall and beautiful museums and theaters, is completely neglected. But I think it’s good that Orion is being exposed to some of the craziness of the neighborhood. She’s seeing a broader spectrum of what the world is like.