Karen Conner, a financial manager for the DuPont Company, is away on business in Columbus, Ohio, this week.

And next week.

And next month.

And next year.

In fact, Ms.Conner expects her mission in Columbus to last at least two years, but she has no plans to uproot herself from her lifelong hometown of Wilmington, Del., where DuPont has its headquarters.

Rather than selling the house she bought in 2000 and moving to Columbus, Ms. Conner has chosen a temporary, albeit long-term, living arrangement that is not quite a hotel or a rented apartment. Rather, it is a hybrid of the two that has become increasingly popular with business travelers on extended assignments: a fully furnished corporate apartment.

http://www.nytimes.com/2002/08/06/business/06APTS.html