Narrow houses once filled the gap between urban overpopulation and practicality. They’re still practical, but also sleek, sexy, and very in.  

In a sobering departure from McMansions built on mini-kingdom parcels of land, the narrow house is enjoying a renaissance in both urban strongholds like London and Tokyo, as well as width-hoarding suburbia.

There’s even been a book written about the svelte architecture movement. Avi Friedman, author of Narrow Houses: New Directions in Efficient Design, explains that while narrow homes have been part of the urban landscape for centuries – for reasons including a tax breadth for wider properties and dearth of space in walled medieval cities – they’re once again being sought after for their environmental advantages, including greater land-use efficiency, less building material, lower utility bills, fewer infrastructure costs and an overall smaller footprint.

“Since the beginning of the housing boom of the 1950s, the size of the average North American house has steadily grown, while the size of the average family has decreased,” Friedman explains. “Today, a growing number of home buyers seeking smaller, more efficient residential designs are rediscovering a centuries-old housing prototype.”

Measuring a petite 25 feet wide or less, Friedman profiles 28 “infill” or “skinny” houses in cities and suburbs around the world. Meanwhile, here are eight innovative skinny minis that we found. After this, you’re going to want to put your house on a diet.

The Silver House in London measures in at 10 feet wide and 26 feet high. It was once a wine vault, which served the pub next door.

This jack-in-the-box in Antwerp, Belgium is 7’ 10” wide. It was created by architects Pieter Peerlings and Silvia Martens of Sculp(It) as a multi-functional work/play space, with mutually exclusive spaces for working, eating, living and sleeping.

The exterior of this Tokyo home bears a striking resemblance to a flat-screen television. In order to utilize the itty-bitty lot without squashing the house against the street, the façade has been tilted 63 degrees as a welcome change of perspective, while remaining typically Japanese in its minimalism.

This almost-anorexic apartment by architect Jakub Szczęsny is too-thin-to-be-true, for now. It’s still in the concept stage, a cold-cut sandwiched between a hulking tower and an old tenement building in Warsaw, Poland. It will be 60 inches wide when completed. That’s just a taste of what promises to be a very rich and stimulating project. Visit Home-Designing for the full scoop.

I’m 99% certain that I saw this home during a canal tour of Amsterdam, though I was in Amsterdam. You can never be too sure. It is the narrowest in the city, maintaining a rather strong, albeit willowy, presence among more stocky neighbors.

In this neighborhood, the “half” in its address (75 ½ Bedford Street) makes a minimal impact on the price of this house. Given the lineage, too, this lithe Greenwich Village gem is almost priceless. It was a carriage entranceway until it became a cobbler shop, candy factory, and eventual home to actor John Barrymore and poet Edna St. Vincent Millay.

The Sliding House is a truly stunning and daring slice of reedy architecture. You must see it to believe it. The house – built in the far eastern reaches of Suffolk County, England – has movable components that insulate it during the cold winter months, and slide open to drench the residents in the warmth of the region’s oh-so-fleeting summer sunshine.

The Holly Barn in Norfolk, England has a narrow base, but was built as a voluminous, fully accessible two-level space. The husband in the family suffers from chronic arthritis, hence the rooms and hallways are wide enough to accommodate the turning circumference of a wheelchair with subtle curves throughout. In all, it gives the illusion of width, but is less than 25-feet wide.

Images: Home-Designing; Boyarsky Murphy Architects; Luc Roymans; Home-Designing; craigatk; Karlinksi73; DeZeen; Architecture.com

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Creeping ever closer to the McDonald’s model, Starbucks has poured it on with the new Trenta serving size. Do we need another supersize product that tempts our taste buds and throws rationality out the door? Of course not. No one should be drinking 31 ounces of double, mocha, frappy, whatever.

But we can’t blame Starbucks. Sure, the new cup can hold an entire bottle of wine (wait, does Starbucks sell wine?), but the company is a business, functioning on the principles of supply and demand, which means the coffee giant is marketing to a nation of consumers who are compelled to go bigger.

What drives us to big over small, more over less, when we know there are smarter choices?

To put it in the words of a friend who minces no words: “Maybe we’re just a confederacy of super dunces.”

Maybe. But as Sara Ost put it today, “you’re powerful,” and that means you can and should opt against 31 ounce drinks, unless of course it’s water. When it comes to food, it’s tempting to grab the fast, cheap and easy, but we all know that the real costs are externalized.

The less is more attitude when it comes to food is nothing new. Choosing less instead of more isn’t just beneficial to your physical health, it also keeps you more sane. Pick up any women’s magazine and you’ll find an article on simplifying your life. We spend ample amounts of time and money on organizational products, from planners to shelving systems, and yet we can’t seem to slim down our pantries.

How do we go about doing that?

1. Make a list. Check it twice.

Take a moment to go through your refrigerator, rethink your core items and narrow your shopping list to healthier options. Review your go-to recipes for the week and make a list of the staples that you need to keep on hand. Having a go to selection of fruits, vegetables and grains will mean you can whip together a handful of simple recipes without going beyond the basics.

2. Stick to what you know.

Trust your gut. Despite our love for Amy’s ready-made meals, we can’t rely on processed microwave dinners even if they’re vegan and organic. It’s too easy to let our brains slip in the heat of an eating moment. Try to keep your healthy, rational self in check.

3. Commit to reducing.

Maybe it’s your guilty pleasure of afternoon pudding cups or a morning break of a muffin, but above all, start small. No one is asking you to revolutionize your cooking ways, but just like you slowly start cutting out single use plastics and replacing them with reusable bags, you can do the same with your food choices. Organic dinner party? Check. All fruit smoothie instead of the double whipped vanilla latte? Check. Handful of almonds instead a snack bag of Cheetos? Check. After all, constraints don’t limit your creativity, they fuel it.

Image: jenny downing

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