Lydia Brotherton

Name: Cory Andreen Location: Mainzerstraße, Berlin-Neukölln Size: 240 square meters/2,583 square feet Years lived in: 2.5 years, rented Cory Andreen’s large, shared loft in the Neukölln district of Berlin is at the top of what was originally a chemical factory during World War I.

Name: Mireille and Simon Location: Alt-Moabit, Berlin, Germany Size: 1,140 square feet/106 square meters Years lived in: 8 months; rented Entering Mireille and Simon’s rambling, open-concept living space, it’s easy to forget for a moment that you’re standing on the top floor of a Deco-era building situated just north of Berlin’s Tiergarten and Brandenburger Tor.

Name: Ralph Martin and Julie von Kessel, their children Lulu (7) and James (3), and Tony the cat Location: Berlin-Kreuzberg, Germany Size: 175 square meters/1,884 square feet Years lived in: 2 years; rented The story of how novelist, journalist and ex-New Yorker Ralph acquired such a spacious, classic apartment in Berlin’s Kreuzberg neighborhood, with a rent that hasn’t been raised in over 20 years, is the stuff myths (and dreams) are made of.

Name: Sara and Mads Location: Kreuzberg, Berlin, Germany Size: 75 square meters/807 square feet Years lived in: Two years; rented When they moved into their current ground floor apartment in Berlin’s busy Kreuzberg district after six long months of furnished, temporary rentals, Sara and her husband Mads were eager to put down their roots and make the apartment their own. They initially arrived with a truck of their belongings at 4 a.m.

Name: RobertLocation: Mitte, Berlin, GermanySize: 1,000 square feetYears lived in: 1.5 years; rented Lofted high above fashionable Torstrasse in Mitte, with views to Berlin’s famous Fernsehturm in Alexanderplatz and busy Rosa-Luxemburg-Platz, scientist Robert lives in a quietly stylish Dachgeschoss (attic level) one-bedroom apartment.