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Lately I’ve had skinny houses on the brain. My wife’s an architect and we’re in the process of getting bids for a renovation of a house we’re in the process of buying. The prices are just, er, through the roof, which got me thinking, maybe we should find a small plot of land and build our own house. You can see where this is going now, right? About the only land we could afford in L.A. is about the size of my uncle Irv’s toupee. But hey, if we want to live slim, it might be do-able.
Helenita in Madre de Deus, Brazil has been inspiring with her 1-meter wide, 10-meter tall 3-story. (To be fair, it’s actually 2 meters wide in the back… look out!)
The U.S.’s skinniest house is apparently right here in Long Beach, CA, and is 10 feet wide.
Here’s one more from Boston, MA and another from the Netherlands.
Anyone know any others we can check out?
Comments (12)
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I see you have discovered one of the houses in Amsterdam. According to Frommer, here are a few others you can find there:
The narrowest house in Amsterdam can be seen at Singel 7. It’s just a meter (3 1/2 ft.) wide, barely wider than the front door. It is, however, a cheat. Only the front facade is really so narrow; behind that it broadens out to more normal proportions. The genuine narrowest house is at Oude Hoogstraat 22, between the Dam and Nieuwmarkt. It has a typical Amsterdam bell gable and is 2m (6 1/2 ft.) wide and 6m (20 ft.) deep. A close rival, 2.4m (7 3/4 ft.) wide, can be seen nearby, at Kloveniersburgwal 26; this is the cornice-gabled Klein Trippenhuis, also known as Mr. Trip’s Coachman’s House.
posted by Elizabeth on 3-14-2007 at 7:56 am
New York’s own skinny house is 75 Bedford Street in Greenwich Street. Marianne “poetry. I, too, dislike it” Moore once lived there:
posted by Robin on 3-14-2007 at 8:26 am
I love your analogy of houses being on a diet. You made my laugh, my thinking was that being slim was the secret to life. If you get a chance visit my blog http://www.theloveyourselfcoach.blogspot.com and see how I found that being slim is not the answer.
Helen
posted by Helen Burton on 3-14-2007 at 8:38 am
When I was but a wee lad, I read a storybook about a man who lived in a house as wide as a door, and then he got fat and got stuck in the house. It was supposed to teach the value of positive thinking.
posted by Jason on 3-14-2007 at 11:47 am
You could always go with a tiny house: http://www.tumbleweedhouses.com/
posted by Katrina on 3-14-2007 at 12:09 pm
You can always do what it seems like the rest of the people in L.A. are doing, and buy a house in the valley… I’m in the San Joaquin, and I’m willing to bet that at least half my neighbors are L.A. commuters…
posted by Jason! on 3-15-2007 at 8:54 am
The Skinny House
Is a footnote on the Great Man-Made Structures of Los Angeles County List. Many of which I have been lucky enough to see.
posted by CropTillDawn on 3-26-2007 at 10:05 pm
There was one featured on HGTV, apparently built in 1696 in Amsterdam, it’s only 8′ wide. It was gorgeous!
posted by jodi on 2-22-2008 at 5:44 pm
there’s a house in toronto that was built on someone’s old driveway. it’s very cute, but very expensive, AND extremely tiny.
posted by ashley on 4-14-2008 at 8:36 am
There is a very skinny house in Iowa City, Iowa. It is on Church street. I think the 3 or 4 hundred block. I don’t live in IC anymore but if anybody else is from IC gettin’ flossy udload a picture of the skinny house (15 feet wide and four stories tall, interesting)
posted by Gary on 4-14-2008 at 10:50 am
I used to live down the street from the Spite House in Alameda, CA. Apparently it’s only ten feet wide!
I tried to do a link but it won’t let me post it. If you want to see it, just google “Alameda Spite House.”
posted by Christine on 4-14-2008 at 12:19 pm
I just discovered the Long Beach skinny house the other day! It’s only a few blocks from my house, I can’t believe I never knew it was there!
posted by Melissa on 6-26-2009 at 5:39 pm