Narrow-Minded Architecture
By Christa TerryA three-bedroom, three-story house with a veranda and two living rooms should be relatively spacious, yeah? Not if it’s the unique and strangely slim house designed and built by Helenita Queiroz Grave Minho of Madre de Deus, Brazil. The whole thing is only about one meter wide, though it stands ten meters tall and can accommodate the niceties of modern living, as well as Helenita’s husband, three kids, mother, sister, and pooch.


In the front living room, couches and chairs are spaced creatively along the walls so one can wind one’s way around the furniture, and a desk finds a spot in an otherwise empty bit of hallway… Scratch that, it’s not a hallway, it’s just the house. And it’s such a narrow house that getting furniture and appliances inside meant dismantling them and then re-assembling them once they were in.


As one can plainly see, however, this narrow house is more than a meter wide in some parts. From what I’ve read, it’s roughly three feet wide in the front near the entrance, but widens to six feet across in the back. Good thing, too, as having a functioning kitchen that could feed Helenita’s family might otherwise be impossible.
Could I live in such a confined space? I suppose I could, if I had to. I read somewhere that living in narrow house that’s this extreme would grow to be exhausting, especially with so many people sharing the space, but I’m not sure if that’s really true. Could *you* live comfortably in a narrow house like this one?
January 13th, 2010 at 6:50 am
Certainly not. I’d feel like Princess Leia in the trash compactor scene and start throwing furniture across the floor to keep the walls from closing in.
Maybe it’s the solid white walls; if there were more windows, or more color, it might feel differently. Rather than cozy it just looks institutionally claustrophobic.
January 15th, 2010 at 12:47 pm
Brazil must have pretty loose building codes! I doubt this would be legal in the US.
January 18th, 2010 at 9:07 pm
@Phyllis There was actually a bit of a to-do over the building because of codes and things! But it was apparently so unique — and drew the tourists — so they let it stand.