With slideshow: The double life of a luxury, downtown condo: Modern loft/warm apartment combines both worlds

“I wanted it to be reminiscent of an old industrial building, but as you moved into the back, I wanted it to feel like a house,” Beal said. “I wanted it to be a cross between the loft look and a New York City apartment.”

The front half of one of downtown’s largest (3,500 square feet) and most expensive condos has 20-foot ceilings with exposed trusses and ductwork found in classic lofts.

But deeper into the space, it becomes more of a home, with cherry wood cabinets in the kitchen, carpeted master bedroom and an office cleverly nestled in a half-floor above the main living area.

He also wanted to fill the space with daylight, and not just from the front and rear windows. Light spills into the otherwise dark center of the penthouse through a series of clerestory windows - high, vertical openings - mid-way between the back and front.

The three-bedroom, 2.5-bath condo is on the market, listed for $1.795 million. Beal said he knows that the market for high-end properties is tight (to say the least) and that the penthouse may not sell. For now, he said, he’s trying to consolidate his assets.

The loft is invisible to passersby who stand in front of Vinology. “Most people don’t know we’re here,” Beal said.

But farther away, with windows and an awning that hint at the variety of architectural angles found inside, the front comes into view.

“One of the design features is when you come out of the elevator (at the rear of the penthouse), you open the door and you can see all of the front spaces. That drove the angles,” Beal said.

The building, the long-time home of the Mayer-Schairer office supply, which closed in 2002, was only three stories, with a slanted roof that made much of the top floor unusable. Buckets collected rainwater and there were boxes of old records, Beal said.

The couple was looking to move from the Burns Park home they had owned for 20 years to downtown.

Slideshow by Melanie Maxwell | AnnArbor.com

“My wife wanted an elevator and parking, and this location afforded us both,” Beal said. There’s a small garage, with space for storage above, behind the property.

The penthouse was built in 2006, but months of structural work came first. To take the added weight of the loft, four feet of earth was excavated from the basement and reinforced with underpinnings, allowing the weight to be carried on the outside walls.

“It was a huge amount of dirt and it was done by hand,” Beal said.

A story and a half were added.

The living room and dining room with a large, open floor plan are separated by a fireplace system that stands as much as art as function, with glass shelves, metal and more angles. Even the glass dining room table in the shape of a trapezoid was custom made to mimic the angles of the space.

Cherry wood appears throughout the condo, from front to back: Most of the floors (with radiant floor heat), kitchen cabinets and the master bath are visually warmed by the cherry wood. The trellis that hovers above the kitchen is also made of cherry.

And there’s a deck on the front of the condominium (with a small dog run, a small vegetable garden and a grill) that affords long views over downtown.

“When you build on top of a historic building, you can’t build all the way to the front. It would create a conflict with the historic nature of the building,” Beal said. “We wanted a deck anyway.”

Views from the rear of the loft are even better. The buildings and parking lots from downtown can be seen, but beyond that, there’s a sea of treetops with only a church steeple peaking through.