Learn From an Ultra-Narrow DC House Just 12 Feet Wide, Listed for $549,999
This brick beauty in Washington has the proportions of a supermodel, all height and little width.
Listed for $549,999 by Tom Lewis of Redfin, the 2-bedroom, 1.5-bath row-house-without-a-row somehow manages to look surprisingly roomy and modern, thanks to some clever interior customization.
The floor plans show an indoor footprint of just about 12 feet wide at its widest by about 26 feet. The lot size is listed at 423 square feet, which means WYSIWYG when it comes to a yard — a pocket garden in the front, nothing in the back. Yet the house manages to eke out nearly 1,300 square feet of living space spread over three levels, and that’s not including what Lewis calls a “potential” rooftop deck (buyers to verify that potential, of course).
It’s situated on an awkward piece of land on a triangular block in D.C.’s Shaw/U Street corridor. The house was built in 1910, and it’s showing its age in places, particularly along one exterior wall coated in tar. (Click any of the photos here to go to a slideshow that includes a photo of that wall.) Lewis doesn’t know the history of the place, but he says the neighborhood was heavily hit by the 1968 riots, and he speculates that a once-abutting building fell victim to blight and was demolished.
In recent years, though, the house has obviously benefited from some loving attention — and it’s an object lesson in how to maximize space and turn even the most unwieldy configurations into relative assets.
Note: You can click on any of the pictures here to go to a slideshow with floor plans and many more photos of the ultra-narrow house.
Let’s go inside.