Nearly a million for a two/three bedroom, two bathroom terrace in Shepherd’s Bush but it won’t suit everyone. Why? Central London’s narrowest house is only 7 feet wide!
The pint-sized house is back on the market for a staggering £950,000. The 1,034 sq ft (96 sq m) property is set out over five floors and has two/three bedrooms, two bathrooms, separate kitchen and reception room, a roof terrace and courtyard garden. The property is a quarter of the average price for a terrace home in the area, as normal figures reach £4 million. At the back of the property, its widest point measures 7′ 3″, making it the narrowest property in the area.
There is an AGA in the kitchen and gas fired central heating, although the EPC is a very unimpressive 52 (band E).
Most people walk straight past the property without even realising it’s a home – the small house comes across as invisible due to its diminutive size. The property was once a hat shop and is believed to have been built around 1830. At one time it was apparently let out to 15 people.
A previous owner hired a canal-boat designer to improve the ergonomics of the house, so despite the property’s size, it doesn’t look or feel that small on the inside. Somewhat surprisingly, the house doesn’t appear cramped at all, nor does it feel claustrophobic due to the clever design of the interior layout.
The property has been on the market several times over the years but the estate agents say that everyone there has been very happy.
The property can’t be extended on either side due to it being mid-terrace, but it does have planning permission to build downwards. So the new owner could extend by creating a basement.
Although this is the narrowest house in Central London, Greater London boasts another in Harringay at 6’11” wide. Further afield, a house in Portsmouth, Hampshire, is 4’10” wide at the front and another in Brighton is 6′ wide. Appropriately named ‘The Wedge’ in Millport on the Isle of Cumbrae, Scotland – at only 47 inches wide at the front – is the world’s smallest property. All of which make the narrowest house in Camborne, Cornwall, seem positively cavernous at 7’10” wide.
The Smallest House in Great Britain (pictured) is in Conwy, Wales and measures just 72″ wide by 122″ high. The two storey building was used as a home for around 300 years, even at one time accommodating a family, but was declared unfit for human habitation in 1900. The building has since been used as a museum and attracts visitors from around the world. We’re not sure quite how groups or coach parties are accommodated, but they say they do. The last occupant was said to be a 6’3″ tall local fisherman and upstairs there is room for a single bed.
SH/LCB