the perfect apartment (so close!)

We are only a few weeks away from finally moving out of this crazy hole and we have not found a new home yet. We had a place lined up but now we're not sure if we want to live on that side of town and we have to start our search all over again.

Yesterday I found a zillion rentals downtown and we drove to every one of them only to find they were mostly owned by the same person and he did not show up to let us into any of them. Stinky. BUT while waiting for him we came across another apartment that was not on the list...and it was perfect. So perfect. In a very bohemian, historic kind of way. The only drawback? It was perfect for single-Martha-with-a-cat but not so much for realistic-Martha-and-husband. Aw man. :(

Mentally tour it with me for a moment, please. (If I'm not allowed to cry, you're not either.) Location: Arts district of downtown Phoenix, across from an outdoor restaurant. Built in the 1920's and perfectly restored, baby blue exterior, corner apartment with historic replica windows spanning all 3 sides. (shoot, I'm already crying). Original hardwood floors on the first floor, built-in storage under wooden staircase, bathroom with original built-in cabinets and "powder station" as Sam calls it, kitchen is nothing to write home about. Approximately 90 square feet. Upstairs opens directly into bedroom with full wall of windows which provide access to liveable flat roof. Maximum 40 square feet. So...I'm pretty bad at math, but I believe 90 sf + 40 sf - garage = no room for husband whom I love even more than tiny historic apartments in the Arts district. But right now I'm wavering.
These pictures are not the actual apartment, but if you cut this living room in half, widen the bedroom a wee bit and add windows everywhere you have a very good idea of what it looks like. [sigh]

My heart is breaking. Seriously, if there was a garage available within a 3-block radius we would have put cash down yesterday and started the Goodwill pile this weekend.