Althouse: On putting the bathtub in front of a huge window with a great view and deciding not to have blinds or curtains.

August 1, 2012

On putting the bathtub in front of a huge window with a great view and deciding not to have blinds or curtains.

When would you do that? Here?

39 comments:

Anonymous said...: Next option:

That, or if Spencer Tunick is coming to town.; 8/1/12, 10:07 AM
rhhardin said...: Don't care, so long as you're not imposing it on others.

It's like peeing outdoors. That's what trees and bushes are for.; 8/1/12, 10:08 AM
Anonymous said...: Looking at the building's facade, I think it will grow old fast, like a lot of Venturi's post-modernist buildings. Like the "eyebrow" lights on the new Audi's - cute at first, but then the joke wears off and it's just annoying.; 8/1/12, 10:14 AM
Bender said...: You don't need to be in the big city in one of those deluxe apartments in the sky in order to be high enough to conceal your nakedness. If your bathroom is on the second floor of a regular house, that is usually high enough. And if not, if you simply slant the blinds the right way, no one can see in from below, but you still get the air and light coming through.; 8/1/12, 10:15 AM
Sorun said...: About the original article -- I lived in a place for a couple of years that had a million dollar view. It was nice, but the novelty wore off and I stopped noticing it. It's not worth paying (much) extra for a view.; 8/1/12, 10:20 AM
traditionalguy said...: Too many nudes in public already.

Seriously, it is an act of freedom. But if a neighbor has a clear scope view, then baths are problematic.

The Bible has its own messy story about a young wife taking a bath with the King watching from a nearby roof. Her name was perfect: Bathsheba.; 8/1/12, 10:20 AM
Mary Beth said...: "Mirow"?; 8/1/12, 10:29 AM
Robert Cook said...: Years ago a young couple moved into the apartment across the air shaft from me in my apartment building. They were directly across from my window, one floor down, so I had a balcony view, as it were, of their window.

They placed their bed by the window and did not put up any blinds or curtains. For the six months or so they lived there, they had frequent sex on their bed, in front of the window with not blinds or curtains, always with the lights on, whether day or night.

I have to assume they were either too stupid to realize everyone whose windows faced theirs could see their activity, or, more likely, that they were exhibitionists and wanted to be seen.

Did I look? You betcha! Many times! As they vacated in about six months, I always wondered if other tenants had complained and if they were evicted.; 8/1/12, 10:31 AM
lemondog said...: When?

If I was showering my bourgeois-self fully clothed to avoid (1) embarrassment and (2) heart-attack lawsuits.

BTW, are the windows one-way glass?; 8/1/12, 10:44 AM
Michael K said...: " I lived in a place for a couple of years that had a million dollar view. It was nice, but the novelty wore off and I stopped noticing it"

I lived in a house on the bluff in Capistrano Beach about 30 years ago. From the living room, you could see the the North Coronado Islands to the south and the West End of Catalina to the north and west. After about 6 months, I stopped looking unless there was something unusual going on. The best part was getting up every morning and seeing what had happened on the beach since yesterday. One morning there was helicopter that had made an emergency landing.

I used to know a guy who lived in the John Hancock building in Chicago. He commuted to his office by elevator. Pretty nice in Chicago winters.; 8/1/12, 10:49 AM
Chip Ahoy said...: A show is about home designers who think their own home is the best so three have a showdown.

I misunderstood at first and thought the point was to sell the house so I chose poorly.

One guy was plain. So proud of his choices. A bathtub that looked out upon an awesome urban river scene. I think that was it. All agreed the view was truly awesome. The bathtub was wonderful. But when the designers came over and they crawled all over the place, a woman designer, a very strange woman with very strange ideas, strange accent, climbed into the bathtub, and encouraged the other guy to climb into the bathtub too, and they all saw that once in the bathtub you couldn't see shit.

Hahahaha the whole selling point was shot by the practicality of actually getting in.

The strange woman won. The other guy was obviously gay but that never came out directly except for the junky gay design elements all over his place. His place looks like junk compared to the woman's place and he fell in love with her and her design ideas, and her way of living, right there, and he made it clear he intended to latch onto her as a new friend.; 8/1/12, 10:55 AM
Strelnikov said...: In the immortal words of Max Bialystock, "Flaunt it baby! Flaunt it!"; 8/1/12, 10:56 AM
Strelnikov said...: It's like peeing outdoors."

One of the great joys of life.; 8/1/12, 10:57 AM
Richard Dolan said...: Most people already have a window in their bathroom, and that's a place where people are often undressed. But most bathrooms aren't on the 75th floor of a highrise.

So, do you always have the curtains drawn tightly? Maybe not all the way down to let in some air when it's hot and humid?

Modesty is a fine attribute, but like any virtue, it is best in moderation.; 8/1/12, 11:00 AM
edutcher said...: Went with 4. As I look pretty good for almost 64, I'll take the risk.

Robert Cook said...

Did I look? You betcha! Many times! As they vacated in about six months, I always wondered if other tenants had complained and if they were evicted.

Degenerate.; 8/1/12, 11:03 AM
Known Unknown said...: Did I look? You betcha! Many times!

Robert Cook is human!; 8/1/12, 11:16 AM
Ann Althouse said...: I try to think from many points of view when I construct the options in one of my polls. I make a real effort to embody a person who really thinks something different from the other options.

But I must admit that it never occurred to me, putting this one together, to worry about what I was imposing on the onlookers. I only thought in terms of how the naked bather would feel. I never got to stuff like:

The question is only whether the person seeing me would need to try to see me or might happen to see me by accident.; 8/1/12, 11:16 AM
Ann Althouse said...: "It's like peeing outdoors."/"One of the great joys of life."

Things only men say.; 8/1/12, 11:18 AM
Ann Althouse said...: Advantages to being a man. If you have to make a list, it's obvious what Number One is... pun intended.; 8/1/12, 11:19 AM
Rusty said...: Ann Althouse said...
I try to think from many points of view when I construct the options in one of my polls. I make a real effort to embody a person who really thinks something different from the other options.

But I must admit that it never occurred to me, putting this one together, to worry about what I was imposing on the onlookers. I only thought in terms of how the naked bather would feel. I never got to stuff like:

The question is only whether the person seeing me would need to try to see me or might happen to see me by accident.

I'm sure, Ann, that seeing you would be a pleasure. I, on the other hand, have caused people to retch.; 8/1/12, 11:22 AM
I Have Misplaced My Pants said...: I can't even think straight about the poll options because I'm so addled by the pictures. I thought I could check them out and be cool, but my acrophobia got the best of me. My hands and feet are sweaty and my--well, never mind.; 8/1/12, 11:24 AM
Revenant said...: That apartment looks like it was furnished by Home Depot. $60k a month?; 8/1/12, 11:25 AM
Peter said...: I think I'd settle for some 30-inch display monitors, and some Web cams instead of the window.

That way I could have the view of my choice- with no privacy concerns, and without the big price tag.

Besides, if you want to be edgy, you'd build it on a balcony. With a transparent (glass?) floor.; 8/1/12, 11:27 AM
Ann Althouse said...: If you thought people were seeing you taking a bath, you'd take a bath differently, wouldn't you. You'd try to be graceful and elegant and offer good angles and so forth. That would be troublesome to do all the time.; 8/1/12, 11:31 AM
Ann Althouse said...: "Besides, if you want to be edgy, you'd build it on a balcony. With a transparent (glass?) floor."

You know how a face looks pressed up against a windowpane. Now think of an ass.; 8/1/12, 11:32 AM
lgv said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 8/1/12, 11:41 AM
Dust Bunny Queen said...: Yikes. What a cold sterile environment. Like Erika, I couldn't handle the height and the view. The horrible congestion, unnatural, disconnected from nature, millions of people living like termites in a hive. ICK. Think about the building swaying in a high breeze. Urrrp.; 8/1/12, 11:42 AM
ricpic said...: Couldn't pay me, or any other person who suffers a fear of heights, to live in that pad.; 8/1/12, 11:43 AM
lgv said...: We are designing our bathroom with this type of setup. The view is to a wooded enclosed area of the yard.

This is very Balinese in architecture, sometimes with actual outdoor bathroom.

It wouldn't happen in our current typical suburban home, let alone an NYC apartment.; 8/1/12, 11:43 AM
X said...: I'd put 2 tubs side by side so I could get the sensation of being in a boner pill commercial.; 8/1/12, 11:47 AM
ed said...: @ Strelnikov

"In the immortal words of Max Bialystock, "Flaunt it baby! Flaunt it!""

Zero Mostel. Man I miss that guy.; 8/1/12, 11:50 AM
Dust Bunny Queen said...: We live in an area that can get very cold in the winter. So while a bathtub with a view is an attractive idea....practicality is such that we have showers (no tubs) inside with gas heaters in the bathrooms and no large windows.

We are considering adding a screened room through french doors on the bedroom for a hot tub and perhaps an outdoor shower for summer time use.

Other than a curtain over the same french doors, drawn at night for heat loss in the winter the windows are always open to the views. We have no curtains on any windows. Solar contribution from windows and skylights is a big part of our heating plan and we rarely need to turn on electric lighting during the day.; 8/1/12, 11:54 AM
Ralph L said...: but my acrophobia got the best of me
I could only deal with those huge windows if they were at least four feet from the floor, which defeats the purpose. The old WTC windows were about shoulder width intentionally, so people wouldn't be scared on the upper floors.

I was going to put a floor to ceiling window at the end of the 1921 tub when I rebuilt my house with a second bathroom. The window would have been right next to the back door, which is the main entry in these parts. The local Hysteric Commission didn't like the idea, and the tub ended up on an interior wall to make room for a big vanity.

If my shower door were clean, and the blinds up, I could look right down the main drag of downtown--but my glasses would get all wet.; 8/1/12, 12:26 PM
Carnifex said...: Depends on the location. If it was a forested view then no...I have a phobia about squirrels wanting my nuts. If it was in front of a sorority house...now yer' talkin'...and no, there also.

Bathing, unless it's with someone you love, or a nurse, or better yet a candy striper, is a private function. Much like defecating or micturating. (my wife doesn't always close the door, let alone lock it) Hey! I have sex there! I don't want to see stuff coming out of it!

Skinny dipping is the one place where communal nakedness is allowable. But only close friends please.; 8/1/12, 12:32 PM
Michael Haz said...: Odd as it seems, the biggest markets in America for the telescope industry are NYC and Chicago.

We have an outdoor shower for summer use at our cabin, plus a large private area for sun bathing. We use it because it's private; because we can hear cars coming up the gravel road well before the occupants can see us.

In a glass high rise? Nope, I'm not that much of an exhibitionist. Besides....people would laugh.; 8/1/12, 1:14 PM
lemondog said...: Public showering; 8/1/12, 1:29 PM
Steven said...: Anyone who wants to look at me naked is welcome to.; 8/1/12, 1:30 PM
traditionalguy said...: This is one thing the Lame Stream Voyeur Media should be able tell usby now about Sarah Palin's home in Alaska.

Over the lake and half way up the mountain I bet they have an astronomers telescope installed waiting for a naked woman to come into the bath room.; 8/1/12, 3:02 PM
Anonymous said...: Carnifex, I believe it's the nurse that usually does the bathing on the patient, not with the patient.;); 8/1/12, 6:08 PM

When would you leave off the blinds/curtains next to the tub/shower?
	Never. It wouldn't feel right.
	Only if the surrounding space was my yard and it had a high wall.
	Walled yard or big private yard with plenty of trees/shrubbery.
	That third option or if I'm pretty much in the middle of nowhere.
	Maybe that but also in the city if I'm up so very high that there are no sight lines to my nakedness
	That plus a situation where I'm not completely sure about the sight lines.
	That and also where I know they can see me but I can deny the truth to my guests.
	That except I'd admit I'm doing it for the thrill.

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August 1, 2012

On putting the bathtub in front of a huge window with a great view and deciding not to have blinds or curtains.

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August 1, 2012

On putting the bathtub in front of a huge window with a great view and deciding not to have blinds or curtains.

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