We’ve featured some strange, unique, and interesting houses on Home Hacks before – but this one might take the cake in all of those three categories. Ladies and gentleman – we introduce you to the Keret House.
The Keret House is located in Warsaw, Poland and it was designed (and habited by) architect Jakub Szczęsny. It’s officially the world’s most narrow house.
The mind-boggling narrow home is technically considered an ‘art installation’ because it doesn’t meet Polish building codes, however, it does serve as a residence to many artists that must apply to live here. The home’s patron and main, symbolic tenant was Etgar Keret, a Jewish/Israeli author – this is also where the home gets its namesake.
The Keret House, built in 2012, is sandwiched in between two buildings constructed in two different eras in history. If you didn’t know about it – you might not know it was even there as you walked by.
A full video tour is below.
“The first is a brick building on Zelazna Street – a fragment of the pre-world war II city, almost no longer existing. The second – a cooperative concrete apartment building, an element of an “imposed structure,” says Szczesny.
At its narrowest point, the home is just 36 inches wide. At its widest – a whopping 60 inches (5 feet).
“The iron structure contains two floors and has one bedroom, a kitchen, a bathroom, and a living area. It has two non-opening windows, with sunlight also entering through translucent glass panels that make up the walls. The entire interior is painted white and the building’s electricity is obtained from a neighboring building. The house has custom water and sewage technology and is not connected to the city-provided water systems.
“Because of its small size, the building only accommodates a small 2-beverage refrigerator, and occupants use a ladder to travel from level to level. Entry is via retractable stairs that, when closed, become the living area,” according to Wikipedia.
Let’s take a look inside this incredible home – the body is raised on stilts and is accessed via a staircase from underneath.
First, you’ll need to walk into the crevice located in between the two buildings in order to climb up the retractable staircase. Once inside, you’re immediately overwhelmed by both the narrow size, but also the cleverly designed space.
A full video tour is below.
“It started with the space,” Szczesny told Dezeen, after explaining how he came across the site when walking home one day. “I started to think who could live there. It had to be a person that would like to be a hermit, someone who would like to spend time alone doing something, but doing what?”
The sleeping area at the highest point of the home contains just enough room for one person to rest their head.
All of the furniture for the home was custom-made. The ‘bedroom’ features a built-in work station, small twin-sized bed, and a window that doesn’t open but provides lots of natural light.
“It requires a sense of humour, as you cannot stay long in a place like this,” joked Szczesny.
A full video tour is below.
“Everything was custom and everything needed to be pushed,” said Szczesny.
The kitchen and bathroom are nestled just below the bedroom of the Keret House – again, providing only the basics for traveling artists that come and stay.
There is a small sink, a two-burner flat top stove, a toilet, and a shower. What more does one really need for a short, temporary stay?
To get a full sense of the layout of the home – take a look at the impressively clever design.
The very narrow and very unique home has now become somewhat of a symbol in Warsaw, as many people want to visit to see the inventive architecture in person.
Do you think you could stay in the Keret House? Take a walk-through tour of the home in the video below.
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