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This article says it's only the facade being that narrow, the other side is somewhat wider: http://www.holland.com/global/tourism/Article/the-narrowest-house-in

by praptak 14y ago

This article says it's only the facade being that narrow, the other side is somewhat wider: http://www.holland.com/global/tourism/Article/the-narrowest-house-in-amsterdam.htm http://www.holland.com/global/tourism/Article/the-narrowest-...

jacquesm 14y ago
Hah, cool! Thank you. Learn a new thing about your birthplace every day. When you're in Amsterdam walking along the Singel it's easy to recognize because there are always a lot of people in front of it making pictures of each other. What I like about this is that both the house in TFA and this one are 'leftover space' re-used by someone that figured it's wasteful. It's a pity the house from the article can't be legally occupied, I'm sure it would be an interesting experience to live in a space like that for a while. Hide-and-seek would be quite boring though!
wybo 14y ago
True. Great for bringing it up. As for why facades are so narrow in Amsterdam, if people wonder (there are many more below 3 meters). It is because people used to have to pay property taxes based on the width of the facade of their house. (so the owners of the house in the article got a good deal by being able to have a small facade for a wider house) Maybe (not letting depth run wild either) something similar could be an interesting way to ensure walkable cities ;-)
- jacquesm 14y ago
  Amsterdam had lots of weird taxes. But how about a window tax? (London) http://www.telegraph.co.uk/comment/personal-view/3578125/When-politicians-go-mad-they-start-taxing-windows.html http://www.telegraph.co.uk/comment/personal-view/3578125/Whe... Something similar existed in nl as well, which resulted in many windows being bricked in.
- praptak 14y ago
  Interesting, I remember seeing a sort of an inverted pyramid house. It was built for similar reasons - a tax on the ground area. I cannot recall its location though.

by praptak 14y ago

jacquesm 14y ago

Hah, cool! Thank you. Learn a new thing about your birthplace every day. When you're in Amsterdam walking along the Singel it's easy to recognize because there are always a lot of people in front of it making pictures of each other. What I like about this is that both the house in TFA and this one are 'leftover space' re-used by someone that figured it's wasteful. It's a pity the house from the article can't be legally occupied, I'm sure it would be an interesting experience to live in a space like that for a while. Hide-and-seek would be quite boring though!

wybo 14y ago

True. Great for bringing it up. As for why facades are so narrow in Amsterdam, if people wonder (there are many more below 3 meters). It is because people used to have to pay property taxes based on the width of the facade of their house. (so the owners of the house in the article got a good deal by being able to have a small facade for a wider house) Maybe (not letting depth run wild either) something similar could be an interesting way to ensure walkable cities ;-)

jacquesm 14y ago
Amsterdam had lots of weird taxes. But how about a window tax? (London) http://www.telegraph.co.uk/comment/personal-view/3578125/When-politicians-go-mad-they-start-taxing-windows.html http://www.telegraph.co.uk/comment/personal-view/3578125/Whe... Something similar existed in nl as well, which resulted in many windows being bricked in.
praptak 14y ago
Interesting, I remember seeing a sort of an inverted pyramid house. It was built for similar reasons - a tax on the ground area. I cannot recall its location though.