Case Study: The Bob House

Editor’s note: this is a guest post from Chris Morello, who has also written for us about his journey through rural communes. Reading this, I thought of an article I often share: Make America Bohemian Again, subtitled ‘why haven’t we built another multi-billion dollar art colony?’ I love the Bobs ambition to not only create not just a great place to live but also… a whole new world.

This is part of an ongoing series of deep dives on coliving spaces. To see others, visit the Supernuclear directory. If you want to contribute a case study of your community, you can find the format and how to submit here.

Name: The Bob House

Date founded: 2023

Location: Bed Stuy, Brooklyn, New York

Rented or owned: Rented

Amount of space: 6 bedrooms, 3.5 bathrooms, rooftop, terrace, 1 living room, 1 dining room, kitchen

Governance: No formal structure, just a “dance” of vibes and reading the room. If someone doesn’t like something, they’ll speak up

What happens when a creative collective becomes a household?

Welcome to The Bob House, the home of Bob’s Dance Shop: a confidently queer dance collective you’ve probably seen in one of their countless viral flash bobs (over 1 billion cumulative views) or performing on stage with SOFI TUKKER or Purple Disco Machine.

Living in The Bob House are Vincent Coconato (aka Coco), Lito, Kameron, Lucas, and their manager Camila. “Moving to New York was always a joke because we can’t do winter,” says Coco. But a shared boredom in LA led to an impromptu workshop — with The Commodore’s “Brick House” playing in the background — on what living in NYC could look like: hosting people, a disco ball, natural lighting, and so forth. And two months later, a lease was signed.

The house isn’t just where the Bobs sleep between tours. It’s the physical manifestation of the world they’re building — one where queerness, creativity, and self-expression aren’t separate from daily life but woven into every corner of it. Think going-to-Mars energy, but if the wavelength was queer instead of the straight white man version we usually see.

Most of the decor was pieced together from Facebook Marketplace finds, largely under the vision of Coco with support from their mutual friend Sergio Baden — a fabulous designer who knows how to turn secondhand into statement.

The name “Bob” was chosen as an unpretentious and accessible ode to the ole Bob’s Mechanic Shop or Bob’s Corner Store - though here it also stands for “Be Our Best,” an ethos you see show up in the space itself.

“We feel like we’re a microcosm for the strength of diversity,” says Lito, one of the dancers who also reps SOFI TUKKER’s spirits brand Novo Fogo.

The Bobs believe great work is collaborative, emerging from a supportive ecosystem of artists, thinkers, and peers who share ideas and tools, challenging the myth of the “lone genius”. Another lens on this is called “scenius,” a term that refers to the intelligence and creativity of a community or “scene” rather than an isolated individual. Think of Gertrude Stein’s Paris home in the 1920’s serving as a “buffer zone” where Pablo Picasso, Ernest Hemingway, and F. Scott Fitzgerald collaborated and helped each other rise to prominence. Or The Inklings (Oxford, 1930s–40s): A weekly gathering at The Eagle and Child pub where J.R.R. Tolkien and C.S. Lewis read their drafts aloud. The group’s “scene” and shared love for mythology directly birthed The Lord of the Rings and The Chronicles of Narnia.

At The Bob House, this ‘scene’ extends beyond dance into a whole universe of queer creativity, diversity, and expression. The Bob House is a gathering spot for makeup artists, film producers, business people, dancers, photographers, and promoters who all share a vision of queer consciousness and creative fearlessness. Music videos and brand partnerships have come to life in this space from ideation to the actual shooting itself.

In the main living room — a large space that can accommodate 20 to 30 people — you’ll often find game nights playing Werewolf (you can imagine the sassiness of a room full of queers trying to call shade on who’s sus), movie nights, or just speakeasy vibes of lounging and hanging. There are group dinners and parties. Or they’ll film a skit — like the Beetlejuice dinner shot right in the dining room.

Beyond the scheduled events, the house runs on kikis: a term for informal, intimate queer gatherings focused on conversation, laughter, and good vibes. Kikis blend. If someone is already in the space, you’ll ask before entering, but generally the vibes are on the same wavelength and it’s wonderful to meet the friends of friends who are usually in some creative field or working on some project. You’ll find different pockets forming in the various sitting areas — two different spots in the living room, the terrace, the kitchen and dining area.

Of course on a quiet night, “if someone just had a hook up and they’re cuddling on the couch watching a movie after, I won’t just try and go and hang out,” says Maximo, one of the Bobs who’s on a long-term sublet. “But sometimes I do.”

Instead of a shared meal plan, this house shares closets, creative capital, and vibes.

During my recent stay, when expressing a desire to look more “cvnty” and embody some inner femme, Lito was quick to find me some hot pieces, and Maximo ready to schedule a makeup tutorial with another Bob-adjacent friend who’s on the same journey.

Beyond the natural vibes of just sharing clothes and things with each other, on the main floor there is a Bob Closet — which is like opening up a portal to the best vintage shop in Brooklyn. You can borrow anything, as long as you return it clean - something your granola minimalist writer appreciated when needing to look fierce for a party in Bushwick.

When you have a vision for the future, and it requires so many different talents, being able to provide space and community for like-minded people to thrive and hang out regularly is key in enabling spontaneous creative projects, supporting each other, and getting things off the ground.

Sometimes that looks like commenting on your friend’s Instagram videos when they’re trying to get the word out or creatively express themselves. Sometimes that’s dropping the release of a song in the group chat and having everyone listen on repeat and save it to a playlist so it helps with the Spotify algorithm.

This isn’t performative — it’s how the Bobs were built from the start. As Coco says, engagement is currency. Adding a friend’s song to a playlist signals to the platform that it matters. Throwing a few emojis in the comment section of someone’s post costs nothing but changes the algorithm. “It’s the easiest and freest form of support that you can offer a friend who’s especially going out on a limb and trying to start something fresh.”

In a house full of people who are all going out on limbs — professionally, creatively, personally — that kind of mutual investment compounds.

At any given point, there is at least one person gone on tour or traveling and a sublet happening. This allows the extended community to land in NYC while also allowing both fresh and existing connections to deepen and flourish around the house.

“When someone comes in they breathe fresh air into the space. Everyone brings an impact to this world and to this space,” says Lito.

So choosing what air gets breathed into the space is a selective process. Approving a sublet involves messaging the group chat of just the residents. There can’t be a no. If someone has a problem with it, they can say why.

The same group hosts an annual trip to the Mojave Desert — now in its eighth year — where the aesthetic of the house extends into the natural world. The theme, the style, the vibe all travel.

This isn’t incidental. Coco has a philosophy about the relationship between nature and creative clarity that runs deep. He describes the desert trips as a way to leave what he calls the “manufactured brain” — the roles, the algorithms, the schedules — and tap back into something more instinctual. “Nature is the same way, but we try to make sense of ourselves in the manufactured world.” For Coco, when you leave the manufactured world, you leave your manufactured brain. And that’s where the real creative downloads happen.

The group also maintains a shared group chat that connects SF, LA, and New York — a digital thread that holds the broader Bob community together across cities. It’s where sublets get sourced, parties get planned, and new creative collaborations get floated.

The Bobs use their LLC to help pay the rent, with everyone on the lease and Coco as the Head of Household on paper. The Bobs all pay their rent to the Bobs Dance Shop LLC minus a $200 rent subsidy per person from the company. This allows Bob’s Dance Shop to write off part of their rent against business revenue, since the space doubles up as a workspace. The Guest Room also allows Bob’s Dance Shop to cover visiting talent.

Of course, no Supernuclear case study is complete without its challenges. Five creative people with no formal governance? Regular kikis and noise when the bedrooms border the main living spaces? The tension between working together and living together?

“Conflict is the healthiest part of communal living,” says Coco. It’s impossible not to confront each other in a living space. Living in avoidance creates resentment, and handling it — even if uncomfortable — builds bonds.

One of the peak conflicts is collectively known as “Smoothie-geddon,” where tensions heated up so much that a smoothie was spilled on Lucas’ outfit, then flung around the room in one swift motion — all 30 minutes before leaving to the airport to share a hotel room and do a gig altogether. But the burst led to healing and closure. The Bobs even invited a film crew to capture the apologies and resolution, highlighting the value of working through inevitable conflicts.

Some conversations may take more navigation than others, especially when considering cultural differences — how a Brazilian may handle conflict is different from a Cali boy from a white suburb. But the beauty of diversity is in the transcending.

Boundaries can be tough, too — considering everyone’s schedules and respecting personal space. Coco will take calls in the office space which borders the living room, and can be inconvenienced by people going about their day. The lines between work and home blur constantly. If there’s a lot going on, it’s a safe space to say “hey, I’m trying to go to bed” and people will be respectful. Financial things can be n ongoing conversation — like someone using the AC a lot more than the others. How does that get split?

In a conversation on the Rock Bottom podcast, Coco describes their mission as world-building in the truest sense: “If the camera could see this entire space, this entire space is the world. It’s like a portal into that world. The design, everything from the fashion to the architecture.

“Dance was never the end goal. Dance was always the moment that would be a bridge to the next moment.” The trajectory goes from dance collective to music artists to directors to — eventually — an immersive world. Maybe a theme park. “What I would hope is that Bob outlives all the Bobs.”

Thanks Chris for writing this! Check out Bob’s Dance Shop on Instagram and listen to the full Rock Bottom podcast episode with Coco for more on the origin story.

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