Combo Kitchen-Bathroom Doesn't Faze Tiny Apartment's New Resident

It's an apartment so small, you wouldn't be blamed if you thought it was in the heart of Manhattan. But this 200-square-foot residence actually exists in a pricey area of St. Louis, and is so compact that the kitchen has to bunk up with the bathroom: The toilet, bathtub, oven, and sink are all in one room.

This tiny splendor was advertised at $525 a month, and is now rented. The AP reports that Harold Karabell of S.F. Shannon Real Estate Management says the new tenant loves it: "Toilet/kitchen combo aside, Karabell says the apartment has a lot to like, including refinished hardwood floors and new windows." Spoken like a true real estate agent. He explains that although the 111-year-old building once housed 12 luxury apartments, "around the time of the Great Depression, it was remade into 50 small units, the studio the smallest among them."

I'm not really a germaphobic person (although I have been known to carry some hand sanitizer around), but this setup gives me the willies just looking at it. Yes, yes, I know: Shit is literally everywhere. For example, when the Mythbusters guys checked for fecal matter on toothbrushes, they found the same amount on toothbrushes places outside the bathroom as inside the bathroom. Still, how could you possibly eat something cooked in that kitchen so close to where you flush the toilet? Props to the happy new tenant for being much less fussy and more flexible than I am.