27-year-old set designer paid $1,850/month to live in a disused NYC laundromat

A 27-year-old television production set designer who pays $1,850 a month to live in an old laundromat in New York City wants to take his home to the next level.

When Sampson Dahl went to view the space in Queens with his girlfriend in March 2019, she dismissed it as 'disgusting', but that didn't stop him from cleaning it up.

In the past four years, he has transformed the old laundromat in Maspeth into a peculiar home, keeping his doors open for much of the day and allowing musicians and artists access when they need somewhere to create or perform.

Dahl's quirky home has harbored attention in recent months as his collection of trinkets, furniture, and random paraphernalia on the outside has grown.

But on Wednesday Dahl said he would transition away from living in the space and hopes to turn it into full time studio and venue with a group of artists.

Set designer Sampson Dahl, 27, pays $1,850 a month to live in an old laundromat in Queens, New York

Over the past four years Dahl has transformed the old laundromat into a peculiar home where he and his friends play music and create art

Dahl describes himself as a freelance production designer, carpenter, and visual artist with an aim to 'create spaces where full grown adults feel free to be children.'

His property, which is on the corner of two residential roads in Queens, hasn't been a Laundromat since 2005, according to Dahl. 'It hasn't been any sort of functional business in 15 years,' he told CNBC.

For Dahl, who says in the past he lived in a warehouse in Chicago, occupying unused commercial spaces is less invasive than filling up apartments.

'I like the freedom of a commercial space, even though there are fewer tenant rights, but something feels more ethical about moving into a vacant storefront that's been empty for years than taking up some apartment in a residential neighborhood that you're not familiar with,' he said.

In the 1940s the spot was a deli. Then it was a bar in the 1970s before finally turning into a laundromat in the 80s, he told YouTuber Caleb Simpson, who recently toured the property for his channel.

The 800-square-foot storefront consists of a main living space with a homemade bunk bed, a small bathroom, and a narrow kitchen in the back.

The laundromat has a disheveled look and is furnished with a wide range of paraphernalia Dahl has collected over the years - bits that were left over after production design work and others things he found on the streets.

He even has an organ, which he told CNBC he got for free in Connecticut.

'I don't think a space needs to be a perfect representation of what we hope a simple mind looks like,' he told the network. 'I think a space should be an imperfect representation of the people who are in it and wherever they're at in life at a given point.'

The laundromat has a disheveled look and is furnished with with a wide range of paraphernalia Dahl has collected over the years

Dahl maintains a community fridge on the street, which allows people with spare food to leave it for others in need

Dahl said creating a sense of community is at the heart of what keeps him in the old laundromat. He maintains a community fridge on the street, which allows people with spare food to leave it for others in need.

In recent years community fridges began to pop up all over the city, and according to NYC Community Fridges there are 124 across the five boroughs.

'I got mugged in this neighborhood a couple of months ago, it's not always safe, stuff has been stolen, but I'm largely protected by my neighbors,' said Dahl. 'I couldn't leave my door open, I couldn't have a fridge out there, I couldn't have a bench outside or a table if I didn't have my neighbors looking out for me.'

He told CNBC he has neighbors that are also friends: 'Dave sometimes opens my door at midnight, and he says "lock your door", and so I'll lock the door because Dave tells me to. I don't even remember to lock my door half the time.'

'I knew true community as a child and I know it again now, and it's been a while since I've seen it but it's so wonderful to be in a neighborhood of people that know each other and look out for each other, it's incredible,' he added.

The 800 square foot storefront consists of a main living space with a homemade bunk bed, a small bathroom and a narrow kitchen in the back

Many of the things in the laundromat were left over after production design work and others things he found on the streets, Dahl said

A small but functional kitchen is in the back and was installed by the previous owner, but not present when the space was an active laundromat

On Wednesday Dahl announced he would a transition away from living in the space and hoped to turn it into a studio and venue with a group of four or five artists

Dahl views the laundromat as a collaborative space for 'creation and recording and interaction'.

'I just live here right now because that's what I can afford but eventually, I'll move out of here and it will be just a studio space, it'll be just an open store for whoever wants to come in and learn to paint, or continue a painting, or learn to record a song or continue a song,' he said.

Earlier in the week took to Instagram to ask if fellow creatives wanted to fill the space and help him turn the laundromat into more of a studio than living quarters.

'Seeking 4-5 artists (seamsters, painters, photographers, musicians, etc.) to split the laundromat with! Slowly transitioning from living space to full-time studio space venue!' he wrote on Instagram.

He is nonetheless grateful for the time he spent living there and the resourcefulness he says it taught him.

'I really can't be too picky about what comes my way, I just have to make the best of it and that's the greatest skill I could ask for. It's nothing I could teach myself, something you could only learn from life,' he said.