While property pages these days can offer up some shockingly tiny homes, not many are so narrow as this particular skinny pad in Conwy, Wales. Squeezed in at the end of a terrace of houses on the North Welsh quayside, Britain’s smallest house is painted a rich red and sits 72 inches wide and just 122 inches high. Click or scroll through and let’s take a (short) tour of its interiors and history…
While the skinny building is now a tourist attraction, drawing a reported 55,000 visitors each year, 'The Smallest House in Great Britain' was home to a number of residents reportedly from the 16th century until 1900. The Conwy home was originally built to fill a gap in the Conwy walls as housing became more scarce. The first resident to be listed in the 1841 UK census was a painter, who was followed by a widow, and then a coachman. A family of six even lived here at one point! Recent visitors, however, have been shocked at the size of the building, not to mention its lack of certain essential amenities, and have been sceptical that it was ever a residential property.
The Borrowers-sized bedroom resides on the first floor of Quay House, as it is also known. Closed off to visitors due to structural instability, the first floor can still be viewed via a ladder, and contains a small storage niche. The tiny house does not, however, possess a kitchen or bathroom, which outraged visitors who reportedly took to Trip Advisor to complain about its minuscule size and lack of amenities. It was, however, common in the 18th and 19th centuries for some households to use communal bathroom facilities and cook over an open fire.
Featuring dark-wooden beams, the miniature home was bought in 1891 for a reported £20 ($24) by landowner and fisherman Robert Jones, who purchased the property with a local resident in situ, another local fisherman also named Robert Jones who, at 6 foot 3 inches tall, was almost as tall as the tiny property was wide. At least he could lie down widthways. He was said to have entertained guests outside, as the two-storey house is just 122 inches high. Alongside a number of other properties, Robert's skinny home was deemed unfit for human habitation by the council in 1900 and he was forced to move out.
His landlord, Robert Jones, decided to try and save his property from demolition with the help of his friend, Roger Dawson, editor of the North Wales Weekly News. Together they toured the UK, measuring other mini homes in order to secure its status as the smallest house in the country. Known affectionately by Conwy locals as 'Smalls', the cherry-red pad was indeed saved from demolition and opened instead as a tourist attraction. It had its tiny reputation confirmed later by the Guinness Book of Records in the early 1920s.
Read on to see inside more skinny homes
As the historic Welsh home shows, tiny homes are nothing new. But it was overcrowded cities in Japan such as Tokyo that inspired the move towards truly skinny properties. Now innovative tiny buildings are being used everywhere, from the Netherlands to Australia, in the fight for space in urban areas, establishing homes on plots of land that would otherwise remain unused. So, lean in for our selection of super-skinny favourites around the world...
Squeezed into a quiet, residential street just around the corner from Buckingham Palace, this five-bedroom home offers a thin slice of the royal life. Measuring a mere 13 feet wide, the Westminster-based abode spans the minuscule girth of a Mini Cooper. Although recently listed with Dexters at £4 million ($4.9m), the narrow pad mysteriously disappeared from the market soon after. Property records show the slim pad last sold in January 2005 for £1.2 million ($1.5m).
The Georgian property on Catherine Place may be narrow, but with plentiful windows, crisp white walls stretching across five floors and 3,552-square-foot of living space, the slim house doesn’t feel quite so small on the inside. The ground floor hosts open-plan living with a modern kitchen and dining room awash with glossy cream floors and cabinetry that sparkle under recessed spot lighting. Patio doors provide access to a private, westward-facing garden beyond.
The living room comes complete with handsome wood flooring and copious space for lounge furniture. Also on the ground floor you’ll find a private garage connected to the street, a utility room and a central hallway. What's more, you'll also reportedly find your own lift, leading to the basement which houses its own surprise: a fully fitted private spa complete with sauna, hot tub and large shower. A home fit for royalty!
There’s skinny, and then there’s this property on Chestnut Street in Deerfield, Illinois. One of its sides measures a minuscule 3 feet across! The house was up for sale in 2021 and a deal was sealed at £240,000 ($295k) in May 2021, according to Zillow.
The walls widen out to give the property its distinctive pie slice shape, making this two-bedroom, three-storey house an ideal family townhouse. The property covers 1,600 square feet and includes high ceilings and oversized windows, allowing the sunlight to stream in.
Upstairs, the primary bedroom makes the most of the wider end of the property, with a spacious king size bed and an ensuite bathroom. This then narrows into a space for laundry, while a walk-in closet is nestled into the skinniest corner of the property.
This house doesn’t just get points for being skinny, but also for its incredible location. The House of the Big Arch is tucked into the Bushveld Nature Reserve in South Africa, and was designed to disappear into the surrounding landscape.
The long, thin living space sits in the tree canopy, and the designers were keen to make sure that no trees were damaged or cut down to accommodate this unique residence. The main body of the building is just 11 feet wide.
The additions made to the central building were dictated by the shape and position of the surrounding wildlife. After all, House of the Big Arch was designed to accommodate all manner of creatures, from humans and birds to the odd dog.
This block of flats in fashionable Kensington in London looks similar to a cardboard cutout. Despite its slimness, the 13-foot wide property sold in September 2021 and fetched £795,000 ($975k), according to Rightmove.
Two spacious bedrooms and bathrooms somehow fit into the flat, making it feel much bigger than its exterior might suggest. A combination of bright ceilings and walls and some tactfully placed mirrors help to elongate the living spaces.
This skinny flat is completed by a slimline south-facing terrace and also comes with access to local gardens for anybody wanting to stretch their legs a little further.
This skinny house captures the sunshine of Portugal in its warm interiors, which spread out across two floors. It is currently available to rent on Airbnb, and is situated in the historical centre of Belém in Lisbon.
There are two bedrooms, which are decorated in a mixture of golds and browns to make guests feel as though they’re already at the beach. Minimalistic accessories and trinkets complete the look.
The bathroom amenities are also surprisingly spacious, and feature tiling is a nod to the traditional Portuguese décor found around the city.
The architects at ODDO have achieved something remarkable with this house. They have squashed a full family house, with space for children, parents and grandparents, into a narrow gap between two buildings in Hanoi. The house is only 14 feet wide, but stretches to 115 feet long, accommodating all of the property’s family and commercial spaces, which are spread across five storeys.
Green spaces are lacking in the busy city of Hanoi, so the designers of CH House wanted to create a mini oasis within the property. Plants and trees grow inside the building in order to create a peaceful living space and relieve stress.
The space is split for two functions: two storeys for commercial work in the shop at the bottom, and the remaining three storeys are set aside for the family. The building is designed to optimise bonds between family members, with most rooms being connected to several others.
This is not just any skinny house—this is a prize-winning skinny house, and was listed for sale for £2 million ($2.5m) with Foxtons in April 2022, before being re-listed with Savills at a reduced price of £1.6 million ($2m). The six-storey 11-foot wide property won a RIBA award and featured on British property show Grand Designs thanks to its unique composition and jazzy interiors. The epitome of trendy city living, it sits in Clerkenwell in central London.
The large glass windows allow light to flood the gorgeous kitchen, which, despite its slim measurements, can comfortably host six diners. The worktop is a shiny Corian, and sensor lighting is fitted throughout the seven-story home.
The property is kitted out with all of the necessary mod-cons—and then some. There are wireless controls for TVs and music, and there’s underfloor heating. Plus, there’s a built-in lift, just in case you didn’t fancy walking up and down those six flights of stairs.
At 6 feet wide, 19a Long Lane has set a record for being the narrowest house in Ireland. The skinny house in Dublin was built to fill a pedestrian lane in the early 20th century and has since become a tourist attraction, with travellers from around the world booking to spend a couple of nights at the property via Airbnb.
Compact furniture, including a picnic table, has been strategically placed in the main corridor allowing guests to move around the house. There’s a mezzanine area above the corridor where a double bed has been placed, though you’ll probably struggle to get a good night’s sleep if you’re six-foot tall or over...
This skinny Irish house contains a small bathroom that takes up half its width, a kitchen and a narrow ‘communal’ room with a bunk bed and chairs, where guests could sit around a cosy fire. In 2021 the compact home went on the market at £254,000 ($311k) or €285,000 in the local currency, that's a £45,000 ($55k/€50k) jump from the 2020 sale price.
Measuring 7.5 feet wide, The Slim House in Battersea, south-west London was designed to maximise space that once served as a Victorian stable passage. Although it's slimmer than a train carriage on the city's underground tube network, the three-storey, four-bedroom house offers more features than its slender appearance might suggest.
The ground floor contains two reception rooms and a kitchen with a small dining area. A set of glass doors lead out to the private garden.
The property's upper levels consist of four bedrooms, each of which contains a double bed and storage units. An angled roof at the back of the house allows all rooms to benefit from skylight windows. Occupants have the option of utilising the family bathroom, which contains a shower bath, toilet and sink or an additional shower room.
This family home and pottery studio in Osaka, Japan measures a mere 10 feet at its widest point. Instead of building out, architects chose to build up, constructing a tall and narrow open-plan structure that emphasises ceiling heights and lets in lots of natural light—essential for the owner's creative work.
The pottery studio is located on the ground floor, while living quarters are split between the second, third and fourth floors. Rooms are organised over a series of split levels connected by a steel staircase. Wood is a big feature of this property, with the exterior cladding left exposed in order to save costs. A large timber shelving structure that runs the entire height of the property serves as an exhibition space. It allows the family to showcase their pottery collection in a home that finds the perfect way to achieve a work/life balance.
Each bedroom has just enough space to fit a bed and storage unit. Large floor-to-ceiling windows in the main facade offer views of Mount Nijo and the surrounding city skyline from the comfort of the property’s private quarters.
This 7-foot wide house in Hammersmith, west London is believed to have once served as a Victorian laundry. Built in the 1860s it's undergone a number of renovations to remove unnecessary walls and now features two roof terraces, one at the back of the first floor and another at the front of the top floor.
The narrow four-storey property has an open-plan scheme that consists of a ground level living room, a kitchen and a garden, as well as three bedrooms located on each of its remaining floors.
Though the bedrooms are very narrow, each has enough space for a bed and storage unit. Exposed wood-beam supports, wooden floors and white walls brighten up each room, creating a feeling of space.
For those looking for a skinny getaway pad, this slender blue townhouse is situated in southern Ireland, in County Cork and is available for overnight stays via Airbnb.
The futuristic new build, which comes in at just under 10 foot wide, is made up of three storeys, and includes two bedrooms and a living and dining space perched on the top floor. Geometric furniture and slender storage facilities give this compact home a stylish, neat finish.
The townhouse even has a beautiful skinny patio, which is a blend of modern wooden flooring and a rustic stone wall. Mosaic furniture and a selection of blooms add a sprinkle of colour to the outdoor space.
This skinny residence, which is less than 10 feet wide, has become something of a landmark in Boston. As reported by Today.com, rumour has it the property was built by a Civil War soldier who had returned home to find his brother had used the siblings’ shared inheritance to build a large house. The soldier then allegedly built this property out of spite in 1890, as it blocked the sunlight and harbour views of his brother’s house.
Even without its intriguing backstory, this property has plenty of merits. Hardwood flooring and open brickwork frame the modern interiors, and two bedrooms—one with bunk beds—have been slotted into this 1,165-square-foot space. The master suite features a custom closet and direct access to the private roof deck, which offers views across neighbouring North End and the harbour.
The swish dining area opens out to a Juliet balcony over private gardens at one end and stretches into a full-sized kitchen at the other. Keen chefs can cook up a storm with the modern appliances, and the space also boasts custom cabinets and a stone countertop. The house was on the market in 2021, and sold for £980,000 ($1.2m) in September 2021.
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