
We've seen this seven-foot wide house on television before (we believe it was the Small Space Oprah show), but this week The New York Times takes us inside Alexandria Virginia's Spite House. Built in 1830 to keep traffic out of the narrow alley, the two-story house is only 25 feet deep. The owners have used almost all of the tricks to maximize space — from an under-counter fridge to minimal possessions and low furniture...









This house is cute, but there's also a house on a street perpendicular to Queen whose address involves a fraction. I always wanted to check that place out.
view KristinaXI's profile
Getting furniture and mattresses up the stairs must be a nightmare.
view Michael W.'s profile
Kristina, I live in a home with a fraction! Admittedly, I don't live in NYC, though. That darn fraction is a pain in the rear when you're trying to fill out on-online forms. A lot of them only accept numerals--no slashes, dashes, or periods. Argh!
view Molly Margarita's profile
It's a cute space but there's something about that 3rd picture from overhead that makes me feel claustrophobic just looking at it.
view carpentrix's profile
carpentrix - part of the issue with that particular picture is due to the extremely wide-angle lens used for the photograph...it captures the entire room but distorts the image a lot, too. it made me a bit queasy also.
view Aaron's profile
I actually love the look of the sideways-bed fake-head wall-canopy; with all the recent talk of headboards, it's really cute.
view Elizabeth II's profile
I feel as if I have watched this family grow. The first time I saw this house on a design show, I thought the Dad was divorced and it was his primary residence. Nice to see that he's remarried.
view LauraE's profile
I'm confused -- the walls are actually the brick walls of the houses on either side, the article says! So their house is not really their house, but completely dependent and attached to the two older homes. How does this work? What if one of the next-door neighbors decides to tear down their house or remodel?
Small space wise, though, I love it. It's bigger than my apartment.
view LolaDanger's profile
i would love a place this large...compared to my apartment it's pretty huge!
view nextweek's profile
Oooh, I saw this on HGTV! Had to have been SSBS. They had the father and son show it off. Neat story of how the house came to be.
view RJD's profile
Yep ... it was SSBS ... one of my favorites!
view ridge_van_winkle's profile
Is it just me, or does this article make living in a small space seem kind of freakish. Like a circus side show?
view SFGail's profile
Lola- I doubt anyone in that neighborhood is allowed to tear down or remodel the outside. It has Historic District written all over it.
view Lisa Hunter's profile
Lisa Hunter -
You're absolutely right. Old Town Alexandria's architectural review board is extremely strict. Houses with far less historical significance than the Spite House are routinely denied permits for architectural alterations. There is NO way this house would ever be knocked down!
view j i's profile
it would be cooler if this were their primary residence.
view SD913's profile
i think the yellow on the walls is genius. although this isn't a style i would ever choose, this home wouldn't look appropriate any other ways. Thanks for sharing
view Stephvixen's profile
This house was actually on HGTV, Small Space Big Style, but at that time only Jack was living there with his son - you're right Laura E!
Now the real question - who marries a guy with a house that small :-)
view chicagomom72's profile