Living Small In Amsterdam… Really Small
By Christa TerryThere’s some debate in Amsterdam over which house is the smallest, though what I think they mean is narrowest. I’ve found travel web sites and tourists suggesting it’s this one:
(via)
Yet other sources tell me that what we see here is only the rear of another larger dwelling. Then there’s this one, which one traveler asserts is a mere 1.8 meters wide:
And the Kleine Trippenhuis on Kloveniersburgwal 29, built for the Trip brother’s coachman in 1660:
Finally, there’s this house, sometimes billed as the world’s smallest*, which measures in at a mere 2.44 meters wide:
Cozy, no? It’s clear that they’ve managed to maximize available space in Amsterdam, if only from side to side.
*I suppose the judges for that sort of thing discount forms of housing other than buildings and freestanding homes? Because I’m sure that there are smaller dwellings out there.
August 21st, 2009 at 7:09 am
I thought the houses were narrow because of tax policy — they were taxed on the width or something?
August 24th, 2009 at 8:33 am
I hadn’t heard that, class factotum, but apparently you’re correct! I found this at Classically Liberal:
Amsterdam is famous for it’s very narrow, tall, long buildings with narrow, steep stairways. This was done because property taxes depended on the frontage of the residence.
Anyone who gone up or down those stairs will tell you that it impossible to bring in furniture. So Amsterdam houses were built with hooks at the top of each and windows that were almost as wide as the house. Furniture would be lifted by a hoist to the window and then pulled into the house.
I’ve also heard that so many of the houses around the MA seacoast are oriented sideways because the same tax based on frontage rule applied ’round here.