The Emperor's New Condo?

As I was browsing the recent Boston real estate listings yesterday, I came upon one, in Philippe Starck's Parris Landing condo development in Charlestown, that made me sit up and do a double-take.

Not in the sense of, "Hey, this one seems to be old-fashioned, unrenovated, and cheap enough for us."

But more along the lines of, "OMG!?? WTF???" Excuse my French, but this unit offers a rather startling concept in "contemporary living."

Here are a couple of photos: find the surprise:

Whenever I see exposed brick, I think, "A chance to learn how to plaster!"

But this is not my only problem with this condo.

Here's the living room from another angle... ahem.

Did you see what I'm talking about? That's a glass-walled bathroom. You can see all of its fixtures from what appears to be the living room. And, yes, there's a white curtain you can pull around to "conceal" it. But it looks filmy and sheer. It looks like an afterthought — for emergency use in case your hick relatives are visiting, rather than your hipster friends. The curtain looks like you aren't supposed to use it.

The living area is even furnished with a few styles of transparent acrylic chairs — so as not to obstruct the view?

Call me "old-fashioned" or just call me "old: for $699,000, I expect opaque bathroom walls and doors. I don't even like the idea of double sinks in a bathroom, because I like brushing and flossing in privacy, too. (The only advantage of two sinks, in our situation, is that Possum could nap in one and we wouldn't have to evict him to wash our hands.)

In case you were wondering how a realtor would finesse this issue in the listing, I will quote:

Exquisitely modern.... marvelous bathrooms.... This is a truly unique home for the creative person who wants something very special. A true masterpiece! There is also a private deck with wonderful harbor views.

"Very special" indeed!  At least the deck is private, although it wouldn't surprise me if, under the right conditions, a person on a boat in the harbor with a telescope could see through the glass wall and into that bathroom, too.