BEACHY SKINNY HOUSE
A 10-Foot-Wide House Was Built 'Out Of Spite' In Florida And Is Selling For $619,000. See Inside
What was once an empty residual lot used as a garden by a neighbor is now the site of a 1,547-square-foot home in Jacksonville Beach, Florida, that's only 10 feet wide.
The two-story house sits on a 25-foot-wide lot (with a lot of depth) and even has space for a garage.
If the neighborhood had its way, there wouldn't be a house there at all. The neighborhood attended a public hearing to voice concerns — mainly from a next-door neighbor who used the untouched lot as a garden — and persuaded the board to disallow any adjustments.
They were stuck building a 10-foot-wide home instead of a 15-foot-wide home, but they still managed to attract buyers. Take a look inside.
[The home even has space for a one-car garage. Open House Optics]
"We don't create our own subdivisions and build — typically, we build on lots that exist," said Ryan Wetherhold of Oceanside Real Estate. "In this particular neighborhood, which is typical of beach areas or areas of high density, you'll get some areas of smaller lots."
[The home is squeezed in between a few other houses. Open House Optics]
The lots were all 25 feet wide, Wetherhold said, but some owners eventually started to combine lots together, leaving some uneven spacing.
[Inside the narrow garage. Open House Optics]
Wetherhold and Atkins have built narrow homes on these leftover lots before and usually get some grace regarding building codes.
"They'll say, 'OK, you can build within the setbacks, you can build wider, you can build deeper, you can go up front,'" he said. "Typically, it's a fairly straightforward process."
[The entryway leading to the dining room. Open House Optics]
But because of complaints from some of the neighbors, they had to build the house within the codes they were given.
"What we were left with was to build within the building code, a modern building code that's been revised that's pretty conservative at 35% law coverage and 7 ½-foot setbacks on each side," Wetherhold said. "So it made us build a 10-foot-wide house. We had no other choice."
[Built-in bump-out seating. Open House Optics]
Because of the building constraints, the home has some interesting features like bump-outs — similar to what you would see in an RV.
"You're not supposed to put floor area in them, but you can put seating area — so you're not able to stand on it, but you can do build-in seating," Wetherhold said. "We built a ton of built-in seating because it's narrow anyway. To try to put a couch in a 10-foot-wide house isn't really practical."
[The kitchen opens up into a living area. Open House Optics]
The house was finished this year and listed in March for $619,000.
Wetherhold said he had a deal lined up within the first week, but it fell through.
To see more photos of the latest skinny house on the market, head to Business Insider.
