Narrow houses are both curious and beguiling. Occupying tiny slivers of ‘leftover’ land in urban locations, these infill dwellings have a shrunken Alice in Wonderland look with rectangular layouts.
Skinny homes present design challenges but offer great creative scope to maximise their diminutive plots. Extensions can add space in any direction and knocking-through walls can dial-up light levels and extend sightlines, while good storage is a must.
Here, we’ve found three whip-thin renovated homes in London and New York, which appear much more spacious than their facades might suggest.
A light-filled infill in Twickenham, London
2 bedrooms; £580,000 to £600,000 via Laurels
What this two-bedroom modern terrace lacks in size, it makes up for with light-filled spaces and good design features. The tiny London home measures a mere 2.3 metres in width and was built in 2017 on an infill plot between two terraced houses. Its ground floor living room is lifted with splashes of green and wide wooden floor planks that ends in a kitchen with a pitched, glass ceiling. There are views out to its large garden where a garden annexe is located, complete with kitchen and bathroom.
A light-filled infill in Twickenham, London
2 bedrooms; £580,000 to £600,000 via Laurels
What this two-bedroom modern terrace lacks in size, it makes up for with light-filled spaces and good design features. The tiny London home measures a mere 2.3 metres in width and was built in 2017 on an infill plot between two terraced houses. Its ground floor living room is lifted with splashes of green and wide wooden floor planks that ends in a kitchen with a pitched, glass ceiling. There are views out to its large garden where a garden annexe is located, complete with kitchen and bathroom.
A light-filled infill in Twickenham, London
2 bedrooms; £580,000 to £600,000 via Laurels
What this two-bedroom modern terrace lacks in size, it makes up for with light-filled spaces and good design features. The tiny London home measures a mere 2.3 metres in width and was built in 2017 on an infill plot between two terraced houses. Its ground floor living room is lifted with splashes of green and wide wooden floor planks that ends in a kitchen with a pitched, glass ceiling. There are views out to its large garden where a garden annexe is located, complete with kitchen and bathroom.
Dutch gabled home in Manhattan’s West Village with literary links
3 bedrooms; $4.99 m via Nest Seekers International
This 19th-century redbrick home, named Millay’s House, is one of West Village’s most fabled houses. It was once the theatre-rented digs of actors Cary Grant and John Barrymore in the 1920s and is the former home of the Pulitzer Prize-winner poet and playwright Edna St Vincent Millay. It is a modernised four-storey home, filled with light from its oversized windows and skylights, and has French doors, wall mirror and balcony, which bring in greenery and sky views.
Photography: Richard Caplan
Dutch gabled home in Manhattan’s West Village with literary links
3 bedrooms; $4.99 m via Nest Seekers International
This 19th-century redbrick home, named Millay’s House, is one of West Village’s most fabled houses. It was once the theatre-rented digs of actors Cary Grant and John Barrymore in the 1920s and is the former home of the Pulitzer Prize-winner poet and playwright Edna St Vincent Millay. It is a modernised four-storey home, filled with light from its oversized windows and skylights, and has French doors, wall mirror and balcony, which bring in greenery and sky views.
Photography: Richard Caplan
Dutch gabled home in Manhattan’s West Village with literary links
3 bedrooms; $4.99 m via Nest Seekers International
This 19th-century redbrick home, named Millay’s House, is one of West Village’s most fabled houses. It was once the theatre-rented digs of actors Cary Grant and John Barrymore in the 1920s and is the former home of the Pulitzer Prize-winner poet and playwright Edna St Vincent Millay. It is a modernised four-storey home, filled with light from its oversized windows and skylights, and has French doors, wall mirror and balcony, which bring in greenery and sky views.
Photography: Richard Caplan
Dutch gabled home in Manhattan’s West Village with literary links
3 bedrooms; $4.99 m via Nest Seekers International
This 19th-century redbrick home, named Millay’s House, is one of West Village’s most fabled houses. It was once the theatre-rented digs of actors Cary Grant and John Barrymore in the 1920s and is the former home of the Pulitzer Prize-winner poet and playwright Edna St Vincent Millay. It is a modernised four-storey home, filled with light from its oversized windows and skylights, and has French doors, wall mirror and balcony, which bring in greenery and sky views.
Photography: Richard Caplan
Former artist’s studio in South Kensington, London
2 bedrooms; £795,000 via Purple Bricks
Slim and infill buildings aren’t a 21st-century phenomenon. This handsome two-bedroom London property lies in South Kensington’s famous ‘skinny house’, which has a width of less than four metres. The razor-thin Victorian building was built as an artist’s studio on land leftover by the London Underground. At just 598 sq ft, the Thurloe Square flat boasts high ceilings and tall windows while built-in joinery and a living room open to a kitchen make the layout feel less bitty. Its thin strip of garden has a decked step that doubles as seating.
Former artist’s studio in South Kensington, London
2 bedrooms; £795,000 via Purple Bricks
Slim and infill buildings aren’t a 21st-century phenomenon. This handsome two-bedroom London property lies in South Kensington’s famous ‘skinny house’, which has a width of less than four metres. The razor-thin Victorian building was built as an artist’s studio on land leftover by the London Underground. At just 598 sq ft, the Thurloe Square flat boasts high ceilings and tall windows while built-in joinery and a living room open to a kitchen make the layout feel less bitty. Its thin strip of garden has a decked step that doubles as seating.
Former artist’s studio in South Kensington, London
2 bedrooms; £795,000 via Purple Bricks
Slim and infill buildings aren’t a 21st-century phenomenon. This handsome two-bedroom London property lies in South Kensington’s famous ‘skinny house’, which has a width of less than four metres. The razor-thin Victorian building was built as an artist’s studio on land leftover by the London Underground. At just 598 sq ft, the Thurloe Square flat boasts high ceilings and tall windows while built-in joinery and a living room open to a kitchen make the layout feel less bitty. Its thin strip of garden has a decked step that doubles as seating.
Former artist’s studio in South Kensington, London
2 bedrooms; £795,000 via Purple Bricks
Slim and infill buildings aren’t a 21st-century phenomenon. This handsome two-bedroom London property lies in South Kensington’s famous ‘skinny house’, which has a width of less than four metres. The razor-thin Victorian building was built as an artist’s studio on land leftover by the London Underground. At just 598 sq ft, the Thurloe Square flat boasts high ceilings and tall windows while built-in joinery and a living room open to a kitchen make the layout feel less bitty. Its thin strip of garden has a decked step that doubles as seating.
