It kind of looks ridiculous next to the older houses in the neighborhood. I don't know why building a narrow house should be so groundbreaking though, I live in a neighborhood that looks similar to this one and there are a lot of very narrow houses. And they actually fit into the neighborhood.

I think it looks great, thank goodness it doesn't look like the other homes, huge improvement and nice not to have every house look the same. Nice job.

Oh man. While awesome, this house sticks out like a sore thumb! I don't know what the eco implications would be, but just having a similarly pitched roof would have helped a LOT. Way cool idea though.

As a lover of old-house neighborhoods, I would be appalled to see this thing built on my street. I applaud their eco-conscious tactics, but I think they got carried away and forgot to consider their surroundings. The house obviously doesn't "belong" and, were I its neighbor, I wouldn't be too happy to have to look at it every day.

I find this really offensive. I don't care how eco it is, it does not belong here. It ignores its environment like a person in the subway who is wearing leaky earphones and blasting (pick your unfavorite) music at everyone when they just want to relax.

That space could have been a garden. Now it is a driveway. Thumbs down.

Very unattractive in that location. It shouldn't have been that hard to design an exterior that would go with the other houses in the neighborhood. I don't think all the houses in a neighborhood should look the same, but they should complement each other, and I've seen a lot of "look how contemporary we are!" houses that just don't take aesthetics into account.

Brilliant! I love architecture that makes people sit up and take notice...makes you think about what else is possible. I think this is a great use of space.

Regarding the lack of sympathy for surrounding "architecture", I'm guessing by the photo this isn't a terribly historic district and it needed a shot in the arm.

The house looks like it's built in the back yard, possibly ruining the open area feel of all the neighbors -- that's really not fair.

Now, now... it's not too bad, the overall shape is pretty cute and probably maximizes livability, although I don't like the vertical and parallel wood accents and the contrasting colour on the house. I think that's the main problem for me. That said, I used to live in Tokyo where there were plenty of modern, strange buildings sandwiched in between older houses and it often worked fine.

I think it's less about the style of the house and more about the fact that they don't encourage the same culture as the surrounding houses...

A front porch and a yard, instead of a drive way and cavernous car port, could have gone a long way to integrate this home to it's surroundings without the inclusion of a pitched roof or more traditional materials/shapes. Also, the house seems to have an entirely internal focus, which doesn't make for the friendliest street-scape or encourage neighborly interaction.

The interior is so dynamic it's a shame that didn't translate more to the facade.

2 and a half stories? What's on the half story? A door to Milla Jovovich's brain?

Heh, I've been by that house quite a lot, and wondered about how it looked on the inside. +1

I love it!

@funstraw A half story would be a loft or floor that does not completely cover the floor below it .... it's common to see 1.5 story houses in this area.

jamieo.

Yes. There was a movie out a few years ago called being john Malkovich where there was a doorway to his brain on the 7 and a half floor of an office building. Very good film. So I was joking that Jovovich would be on the 2 and a half floor, to which I would guess that Maury Povich would be on the 3 and a half floor, and I guess Vladmir Putin would be 9 and a half floor.

Like everyone else, I applaud the effort but frown on the application. I would hate to live on either side of this...

I did a GIANT thesis on Urban Renewal in college. This home is the equivalent of the new plastic and glass modern North Face store on the gorgeously historic Grand Ave. in St. Paul, MN. It sticks out like a sore thumb and it breaks up the genuine feel of the entire neighborhood.

I also would hate to live on either side of this. Houses like these are becoming more and more prominent in places like Venice, CA. Which is sad because it's so full of beautiful old beach homes full of character.

Urban Renewal is based off of taking the characteristics of the neighborhood and building around them. If you don't like the characteristics of the neighborhood then go to another location. This house would work perfect downtown.

I'm surprised so many people dislike this house or find it un-eco friendly, Sure we could all do more, but it does have some good eco points, the shaft, lighting, exterior facade that will last a long time, longer than the rest of the neighborhood as those house fade into eventual disrepair.

As for not fitting in, well you have an empty lot and much worse things could go there, but what ever you put there is not going to match it's neighbors. At lease it's pushed back so you won't notice it unless you stop in front of it. It is a nice looking house, it just doesn't match. If the neighbors didn't like it they could of bought or split the land and add it to their space. If they did that though I would imagine that this area would probably be turned into parking, and that would be much worse.( yes I know it has a driveway.

I don't know about Toronto but here in Brooklyn a 20 foot wide space is a rare luxury in an urban setting. 16 is great.

It's like a breath of fresh air in the neighborhood. I am actually digging the 'FU' to the visual conformity, but that's probably because I'm a young punk who listens to rap music. The interior looks absolutely amazing.

cool but looks too out of place

i love it! it's super cute! iwould move in in a second. i think it looks cool amongst the other houses. it even brings out the beauty of the older houses. i love this kind of thing: old and new mixing together. It's quintessentialy American.

So it maximises the footprint?
Is there a need for the car park out front?

Why waste all that space at the front of the property (unless there was a good reason to build it that far back). I'd have moved it forward nad given more liveable space at the rear.

BTW, I live in England and my home is only 14 feet wide. What passes for 'small' on AP can be positively palacial by Eruropean standards.

ugh. typos.

I love contemporary homes and thought this house was ideal - until I saw the neighborhood shot. Seriously, context is everything and creating a sore thumb is never appreciated. I'm afraid it's nickname "The Shaft" may be implying a bit of unhappiness from the neighbors, no?

The old fart houses surrounding this modern and beautiful structure are like gangrenous fingers.

This is a great use of a narrow lot. It's so open and bright. I live in a neighborhood of older homes like the ones pictured, and I honestly don't care if someone wants to build something new and different in the middle of them.

Why must we be trapped forever in the 20s, or whenever those earlier (and actually quite homely) houses were built? Time moves on, life moves on, design moves on.

Gambrel roofs like the ones pictures actually force inefficient use of space on the second floor, and awkward "storage spaces" around the edges of sloped rooms.

The new house is a much more efficient use of space and materials.

I love much about the interior, but the exterior, with the lack of traditional windows, strikes me as very off-putting.

And, more importantly, I totally agree with other commenters who've noted how out of place the structure is there, wedged in among the more traditional single-family structures. How did this design get approved for that location? It seems to me it'd fit in better on a street consisting mainly of condos and commercial or industrial buildings.

I am very sad for the neighbors because their property value went down. Many people wouldn't want to move near a home like this so their home will not only sell for less but be harder to sell. There are ways to have kept the inside as it was but make the outside more fitting with the neighborhood. If you don't like the way a neighborhood looks when you are thinking of moving in then it really isn't a good fit for you and you should think about another location. I would say the same thing if a cute little cottage went up amid a number of contemporary styled homes.

I don't mind the context; the style contrast is start, but the scale is kept the same, so I think it works. However, the big fail is the driveway! The other houses don't have that, and it looks and functions much better. Nice interior space though.

How narrow of a house do you think you could live in?

I like it. I think the old materials used on the outide complement the old buildings on either side. I guess I wonder whether it shades the other buildings back gardens though.

Also, I thought it was crack dens that bought down surrounding property prices, not the personal tastes of people who may or may not buy other houses on the same street.
How patronising!

A complete eyesore to the specific neighborhood. Homes should compliment the overall esthetic and spirit of a neighborhood.

I agree with those who mention the open garage/driveway as the biggest affront.

With just some lovely landscaping instead of the drive, I think this entire discussion would have turned in this home's favor because the landscaping of the other homes is pretty lacking.

A little garden would have made it look fresh and thoughtful by comparision instead of cold and out of place.

Based on placement alone, I would say no thanks. We almost bought a house that was gorgeous on the inside, had large front yard and nonexistent backyard with tons of character but couldn't. One side of the house was an arms reach away from a gigantic condo complex. It just felt claustropobic being in the shadow of the shadow of another building. I can't imagine living like that with two buildings on either side.

I think they could have gone with the type of driveway that has 2 ruts with grass in between, but overall it's cute. I like neighborhoods where the buildings are all different.