A new apartment complex, Turnstone Flats LLC, is an energy efficient and historic building that offers its residents a convenient downtown location, beautifully designed space and a welcoming community. Or at least that’s what the building’s designers and landlords were hoping to create when they purchased the building.
The building was built in 1936 by the founder of Psychiana, a mail-order based religion, and was considered Moscow’s finest building. Throughout the years, the building lost business and structural integrity was put on the market at a low price. That’s when two creative minds came together and bought the building.
Elizabeth Graff and John Dunn started their project in 2011 when Dunn needed to relocate his land surveying company. Graff and Dunn had worked together before on similar projects.
“It’s always been a life work dream to do some development downtown, where I really believe the core of energy, creativity and uniqueness is,” Graff said. “We were both full time in our separate careers and we came together to start Turnstone LLC … we had done a couple small projects together and we work really well … we share a similar ideology when it comes to living and building.”
The building was owned by the University of Idaho Foundation and only one-tenth of the space was in use. While the building was structurally sound, Dunn said the interior was in poor condition.
Graff said he saw potential immediately and came up with ideas right away.
Today the building is 100 percent occupied with a mix of businesses and residential apartments.
Graff and Dunn decided to step away from restoring the building back to its historic roots and chose to take a modern approach in the building’s restoration.
“We were guided by two main principles,” Graff said. “One was to really think about the energy of living and to create smaller building footprints in an urban environment.”
Dunn said they also worked to incorporate common sense into their design.
“We had an existing building with historic character that was structurally sound … we’re not big time developers, we didn’t have a ton of capital to work with … let’s do it smart … let’s make good decisions and do this right the first time,” Dunn said.
With the installation of energy saving light bulbs, energy efficient windows, Energy-Star appliances and low-flow toilets, the building’s heating load was cut by two-thirds.
Dunn and Graff also found creative ways to conserve space and resources in the apartments. In Graff’s personal bathroom, she has a compact washing machine — but no dryer. Instead, she had the Internet cable for her apartment strung over her bathroom counter, coming out of one wall into the other wall, so that she could use it as a clothesline.
Structural changes to comply with city plumbing and electricity codes caused the building to lose its historic preservation status.
Graff and Dunn had to put in extra work to comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act. More than a dozen doors in the building were not compliant.
“Obviously we had to make the office spaces compliant with ADA,” Dunn said. “We did put in two new public bathrooms … also we wanted one of our apartment units to be compliant … there are people with needs that need a place to work for them … so our ground floor apartment is ADA compliant.”
The three-year project cost $750,000. Residential rent includes all utilities and Graff and Dunn provide the Internet in the building as well.
“We pay all the other utilities, we pay for the Internet and we have a dumpster in the back … we pay for the trash and the recycling program we started,” Graff said.
Graff and Dunn are the landlords of Turnstone Flats and they both have apartments in the building.
“We’re there all the time … and that was one of the big intentions was to build a community,” Graff said. “We joke around because with the other people living in the building, it’s like a big house.”
The building’s hallways are decorated with art created by the tenants, the front doors to some apartments have been built from window panels and there is a community area for residents to use for business meetings or just coffee with friends.
Graff and Dunn also added a few extra perks for their residents. Each person has their own small storage space in the back of the building. There is a custom-built bike rack in the common area, and a small “guest room” that residents can rent for visitors. The room includes a bed, side table, small closest and personal bathroom. Residents who have company can rent the room for a small fee for their guest. Outside visitors can also rent the room for private use.
The building is occupied by artists, architects, marketing companies and small families. It can be found on the corner of Third Street and Jackson in downtown Moscow.
Danielle Wiley can be reached at [email protected]
