14 DAY TRIAL // Young people looking for a glorified dorm room or couples that want to live in a small house that is at the same time modern and cozy can look up a little thing in Sussex, England owned by Iain and Rachel Boyle. The couple bought the construction 12 years ago on a whim, and are now convinced that it might just be Britain’s narrowest house, as the Telegraph informs.
The house was initially a donkey cart shed, though abandoned when the Boyles purchased it. Walking past it almost every morning, they would often wonder how it was like on the inside – so, one day, they just went in, fell in love with the place and bought it for £8,000. 12 years and £15,000 later, they have turned it in a very nice place that they’re renting out – and have even contacted the Guinness World Records to come and check it out to see if it’s truly the narrowest house in all Britain.
“It used to be a TV repair business but that closed when people stopped having their TVs mended. Most people probably drive past it without even realizing it’s there. We had always pointed it out and thought it charmingly quirky. So when we saw a for sale sign up we decided we had to buy it. Then we had to work to make the most of the limited space. The big window at the front would have been used to haul donkey carts to the second floor with a pulley. Now it can open right up and make the place lovely and airy in summer,” Mrs. Boyle says for the publication.
Right now, the two are getting plenty of offers on the house. “Property is so expensive to rent in Brighton, our tenants have always been thrilled to find a house with a garden they can afford instead of having to share with strangers. They say they don’t ever have to switch the heating on – it is so narrow, it is insulated by its neighbors. It’s certainly compact, but it’s unique and it’s got lots of character. I hope our sons, Joe, 14, and Charlie, 11, will both have a chance to live in it one day,” Mr. Boyle also chimes in.
On the ground floor of the house is an entrance hall, a kitchen and a shower room. Then, a normal-sized staircase takes one up to the living area, where a two-seat sofa is the only piece of furniture that fit. A wooden ladder takes one up to the bedroom – or, better said, the bed that is in the eaves of the construction. As per the same publication, a person over 6ft can touch both walls of the house at the same time by simply outstretching their arms.