My first thought was some type of space for sexual activities. But if I go down my mental check list of required features it doesn’t fare well. Thinking through other uses it still doesn’t seem very usable. So I’m going to settle on whatever the intended use, the design and execution were sub par. 
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I would kill for a property for that little in my area of the country. The pool would just be a bonus.
I dunno… sex + water = excess chaffing, in my experience, anyway.
Haha yes! It’ll be like an episode of Fringe! 
No but seriously, as a meditator, I love this idea. 
I’ve never used a float tank before, but float tank establishments appear to be popping up in hip areas these days, including close to where my brother lives in Easthampton, MA. I ought to check it out sometime! Do you find the experience to be particularly useful/interesting, as far as meditation goes?
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Lots of money – combined with privacy – seems to lead to the metastasization of bad decision-making.
Maybe it used to be an indoor facility to grow really expensive plants? Or to slaughter animals? It has some industrial quality, despite the mosaic tiles…
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I’ve never tried it, I’m a very shy person and would be too anxious to relax properly in one of these that can be rented by the hour. On the other hand a privately owned one should be very helpful, especially of inducing an out-of-body experience. The most difficult thing with OoBE is achieving proper relaxation (that’s why spontaneous OOBEs happen frequently between 3 and 4 a.m., when the body is already relaxed enough) and it should be much easier this way.
Having pool inside house would also be awesome for relaxation but I would probably spend way too much time in it.
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And the former owner was in the wine business, so there’s that.
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I really doubt if this was a swinger’s abode or anything more exciting. It looks like dude wanted a pool, so he bought the next door house, was required to keep the outside looking historic, and built a pool with associated shower, bathroom, and a snack kitchen upstairs. My guess would be that the hinky upstairs bathroom (which is a totally different style than the rest) was a leftover that hadn’t been renovated yet. It looks like they got it functional for their pool use and were planning on a phase 2 that never happened. (The layout makes sense if there were a few walls that had been demolished.)
There aren’t any beds, or any room for beds. There are no spaces for soft couches or other soft furniture. This really, really doesn’t scream “dungeon” to me; there just isn’t enough space. It just looks like someone wanted a pool and lived in a neighborhood where they couldn’t have one except for something like this. And at $150K, not really that outside the realm of possibility.
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One hell of a large sensory deprivation tank?
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The foreclosure says it was.
But yeah, there are people who could afford a pool house. The original owner just wasn’t one of them.
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In the '70s I visited the Society Hill home of a wealthy family. An indoor pool on the main level was what made it memorable. The owner loved plants, so she had a lot of tropical specimens in that room. However, that house was at least three times the width of the average row home, so there were other living spaces on the same floor. From the outside, you would never guess it was so spacious (and luxurious).
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I enjoy meditating but I get so damn fidgety. The float tank helps me ease into the right state of mind. The tank and my daily distractions rapidly evaporate leaving me floating in a warm comforting void. Sometimes it feels like I am floating up or down or even spinning slowing but just move your hand a few inches out and you will feel the chamber wall and then you are back in the tank, in the room, etc.
Groupon and its competitors often have deals for the tanks near me. Check to see if they have a first time customer deal for an inexpensive visit near you.
Just an FYI. Each tank is in a private room with a locking door. After you pay, you go into the private room alone. Lock the door. Get undressed. Take a shower. And then of course get in the tank. it’s amazing how fast you forget what is outside. When your time is nearly up there will be an audible sound to let you know it’s time to get out to shower and get dressed.
Other than when paying at the front desk, it’s an hour without other people.
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“weird and blatantly dangerous” what could be more Baltimore than that?
I’m kidding actually. Everyone seems to think this town is murder capital of the world but if you’re not involved in the drug trade (or to be fair living near it) you are as safe as in Boston or New York.
There’s a funny story from the 80s about some MICA students who actually put a hot tub in their Bolton hill row house. On the second story. When they filled it, it crashed through the floor and destroyed the house. True story it was on mt. Royal terrace.
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I’ve heard Michael Phelps has one of these in his house. Which funny enough I think is in or near fells point. Hmmmm
I’d love to have one of my own but don’t have the space and I imagine they are rather spendy. I go occasionally but find the prices a bit higher than I’d prefer.
Here are the prices at Urban Float in Seattle. Other regions might be more or less of course.
Here is a video of the private space.
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OK, I live in Baltimore, definitely am an advocate for the city, but I have to say (and I acknowledge this is off-topic from the post) – this isn’t true, IMHO. OK, you couched it with “or to be fair living near it,” but by that definition, you’ve covered most of Baltimore City.
Let’s take the general area I live, around Charles Village.
Here are some things that are pretty common here:
• Armed robberies and muggings at gunpoint
• Break-ins
• Car-jackings
• Vandalism & general raucousness, fights
• Even kidnapping-style robberies, where someone is taken at gunpoint to multiple ATMs to clear cash out of accounts
• Shootings and stabbings
Boston and New York City have become highly gentrified over the past couple decades. Violent armed robberies are simply not nearly as common in those cities as they are in Baltimore. Baltimore has a really, really significant violent crime problem. It’s completely out-of-hand. You don’t have to be involved in the drug trade – ask the people who get shot by stray bullets, like the toddler who was killed blocks from where I live a couple years back. This city needs to get its shit together.
I love the city, and it has many great things to offer. But as citizens I don’t think it helps things to make excuses for the very real and horrible problems that we face.
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Jesus christ, this has skeezy sex club all over it.
“Swimming” pool. More like C̴̡̠͎͗̈́̂̊̓a̴̳̭͉͎͚͎̻͚͎̱͐̆͛̊́͊͂̂̾̕h̶̩̳̗͍̯̺̪͐̽f̸̧̢̢̛̱̺̠̼̟͚̾̔͌͊̐͑̿͋͜ ̶͙̞̝̒̈́̈͝a̴̢̯̪̋̈́͒͌͘h̷̠̼͍̐͑̀͊̋̓͆͘ ̷̭̱̱̯͎̜̞̊̚͝ņ̸̼̻̰̠͎̂̎̉̍̀̈́́͆͂a̶̢̓̀̍͛̿̈̒̀͠͝f̴̢̡̝̹̓͛̽̅̈̀̆̿͐͝l̴̛̝̮̪͗͆̂͜͠ ̷̰̺̈́͋͌̄̿͋͝m̷̢̠͉̝̻͓͈̀̀̈́̋͋̉͌͠g̵͈̱̪̋̈́l̶̨̢̜̖͐̉́̐̈́̚ẁ̸̯̯̗’̷̬̖̻̳̗̔͗͊͆̋ñ̸̥͙͓͆͋͑̿́̀a̵̘̬̝̝̞͍̜̦̪͊̈̏f̷̖̳͎̾͛͒͋͋͋̎͘h̴̰̏́̽́̅̐͜ ̵͈̘̟͉̺̏̊̋̇͜h̸͚̤̗̖̘̏̍͜ḧ̵̠̙̠̭͎̀̐͑̅͆’̵̤̌̓̑͛͒͛́͌̌ ̶̡̬͔̋ą̸̡̖̙̍̋̈́͂͘h̶̬̭͈͈͑o̵̗̫͌̅̒̉̉́͌̊r̸̛͙̯̪̱̤̻͖̀̊ ̶̩̘̬͇͓͖̗̽͋̊́̑s̷̨̨̥͍̮̳̊̀̈́̅́̉̿́̈́͠y̶̠̹̦͎͉̹̘͂̄͂̈́́͋̐̕h̴̢͍͙̗͙̥̦̬̤͋à̴̪̯͙̥̅̎̑’̶̢̧̤̬̩̺͕̯̓h̸̡̧͙͚̗̭̖̰͍̑ ̴̜̙̤́͌å̴̜̠͊̏̚͝h̴͇͓̜̱̖̜̺̺́̍̽͑͊͌͜’̸̩̣͎̈́̒̐̓͋̕l̵̡͍͈͔̟̙̠̝͉̤̈́̐̑̅͒̕͘͠e̸̙̭̯̜͚̞͆̏̆̏g̴̥͎̾͑́̀̓̌̃͌̕͝ȩ̷̢̪̮͈̜̬̒͂̋͑̍̇̐̂̋̕t̴͕̟̟̮̪̯̱́̆̒̈́͐̓̇͐ẖ̶̢̗̙̤̀̽͆̉͂̈́̍̑̋͝, amarite?
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Of course the previous owner didn’t comment. They’re the puppet of whatever eldritch horror has now outgrown that pool, and probably moved to a larger one some place more discreet. Like LA or Miami.
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