Info for Prospective Tenants

What makes the homes at Lion Canyon different?

They’re almost completely new.

Highgate and The Quarters were fully remodeled before opening in 2023. This was not just a cosmetic remodel: Brand new floors, ceilings, electrical, plumbing, HVAC, bathrooms, windows, lighting, doors, fixtures, hardware, and paint throughout entire house made them feel like new homes.

As of January 2024, only one tenant has lived here: A group of international students that were so clean and careful that they left little evidence they were ever here. (Except for some great memories.)

They’re beyond fully furnished.

Even at more expensive rentals, “fully furnished” typically includes major furniture only. At Lion Canyon, we provide almost everything you need, and you won’t need to bring much more than what you would bring to a hotel. Plus, if you have a cat, you can get even more.

Furthermore, the furnishings provided are not cheap surplus goods; rather, they were obsessively researched and carefully selected for the space.

They’re designed for harmony.

The homes at Lion Canyon were each built with dozens of architectural and furnishing features designed to help people living here get along with their neighbors and their housemates.

In Highgate, the living room was designed to be flexible, allowing people to rapidly change between several layouts. This reduces conflict by enabling everyone in the home to use the living room for their own purposes. In The Quarters, all four bedrooms were designed to be as equal as possible, and shared storage, like the hall closet and the two refrigerators, are designed to be split in half, then half again. In Cloud Nine Studios, the walls between units were built extra thick with staggered stud construction, which drastically reduces the sound transmission through them.

And as we all know, it’s hard for sleep-deprived, cranky people to get along with each other, but that’s not a problem here because...

Lion Canyon is a laboratory.

These homes are very new, and although they are perfectly ready to live in, I don’t know if I’ll ever stop trying to improve them.

During your stay, I will likely ask if you want to try out new products for your home. Furthermore, if you have any ideas for improving your home experience, I’ll be eager to hear them.

All profits benefit animals.

To have any chance of convincing larger developers to copy the model, the homes developed through this project must operate profitably. However, all profits will go toward promoting animal welfare, so you can feel better about where your rent money is going.

Charity begins at home (or, in this case, at Haven Homes), so the first animals to be helped will be those living at Lion Canyon through several benefits provided at no cost to the tenants. Any remaining profit will go toward other animal welfare causes.

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My promises to you

They’re not crazy cat houses.

I’ve asked hundreds of people what they think homes built for cats would be like, and virtually every single person imagines vast networks of small shelves and tunnels everywhere they look. That is not what has been built here.

No one will walk into a home at Lion Canyon and think “this place is built for cats.” The cat features are all hidden or non-descript.

They’re nice without cats, too.

It is important to note that it’s not all about cats here, and you do not need a cat to enjoy living at Lion Canyon.

Cat-friendly homes are just one example of Broad Appeal Specialty Housing, and it is crucial to our mission of proving the BASH concept that these homes appeal to everyone, especially people who do not have cats.

One of the top design principles is "Human needs come first." The cat features have primarily been built into low-value space you wouldn’t be using anyway. Furthermore, all these features have been designed to have secondary uses, or at the very least, to go unnoticed by people who do not have cats.

I care about your health and safety.

When designing and building a home, there are thousands of decisions to make, and I made them all with your health and safety in mind.

Some are more noticeable, like the strong locks and doors. Others are subtle, like choosing building materials and furnishings with low VOCs, because even if you only stay here a few months, I don’t want to contribute to you developing mystery illnesses or cancer.

Essentially, I made all these decisions as though I were building each home for my own family.

I will try to make you happy.

In addition to your health, I also care about your happiness.

I’ve tried to build homes that you’ll truly enjoy living in, and that will help you thrive. I hope you create great memories here, do amazing work, live your best life.

To that end, while you’re living here, I will try, in my capacity as your neighbor and property manager, to help you enjoy your stay. Whether that means changing the artwork in your home, telling you about local farmers markets, or reconfiguring your closet storage system to meet your needs—it just depends on the individual.

I will leave you alone.

I would like your feedback to help improve Lion Canyon and ensure your happiness here, but all of that is optional and done via an app. If you just want to be left alone, you won’t see me unless you need maintenance.

In fact, Cloud Nine Studios are specifically designed for people who want to live without distractions from other people.

I will not get rich off you.

The rising cost of housing is a giant problem, and it feels bad to hand over large sums of money for necessities to people who spend it on sports cars. That won’t happen here.

I have a full-time job; I am not making my living from your rent. Rather, I am operating this business to try to achieve several goals for the public good. Although not a non-profit, as stated above, [[#All_profits_benefit_animals.|all profits will benefit animals].

Your promises to me

Most of this is covered in the lease; however, making promises is important and helps people follow through on intentions. Before you move in, when we’re going over the lease, you’ll need to look me in the eye and make the following simple promises:

You will follow the rules.

You need to read the site policies and agree to abide by them. The rules aren’t extreme and there aren’t that many of them, but they are all important.

Note: If you are a first-time SDSU student, don’t think this means you won’t have any fun—there will be countless party opportunities; just not here. (Only rookies party at their own place anyway, because it inevitably gets trashed and then you’re stuck with the cleanup and repair bills.)

You will take good care of your home.

These aren’t typical rental homes. They have been built with extreme care and are full of very nice furnishings, most of which would be difficult and expensive to replace. However, everything has been built to last, so as long as you aren’t careless with how you treat your home or who you let into it, everything should be fine.

You will ask questions.

If you don’t know how something in your home works, or it isn’t working as you expect, or you don’t know how to clean it, or you have almost any other question, just ask me. I am very responsive and willing to help, and I’ll be disappointed if you cause damage that could have been avoided with a simple question.

You will pay your rent on time.

This isn’t a giant, faceless corporation with a thousand other rental properties that can absorb big losses—we need everyone to pay their rent. We offer a decent grace period (5 days), after which there is a steep penalty. I don’t want to charge this penalty; I just want you to pay the normal amount, on time, so we can both focus on far more pleasant things.

You will not make me evict you.

I really don’t want to have to evict anyone. However, this project has some pretty lofty goals—which are more important than you or me or any individual—and breaking the rules or not paying rent puts those goals in jeopardy. (Plus it simply isn’t fair to the other tenants.) By living here, you promise you won’t make me evict you.

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I’m sorry it’s not more affordable.

I’m sorry I even have to charge at all.

Show chart of costs, illustrating how land, fees, and minimum construction costs would have made even the most modest homes expensive.

Also refused to cut corners on quality, especially when it comes to health and safety.

Since I couldn’t make them truly affordable, I decided instead to make them extraordinary at a reasonable price. However, larger builders with their much larger economies of scale can copy this strategy and execute it more affordably.