Most people can barely deal with studio apartment living. Meanwhile, one man in Peru found a strip of space barely wider than a backpack and decided to build a whole house there.
In Aucallama, Peru, a brightly painted home designed by Fabio Moreno is drawing attention for measuring just 63 cm (24.8 inches) across at the front. According to Oddity Central, Moreno built it as a fully functional house and has already submitted it to Guinness World Records as a contender for the narrowest house in the world.
The impressive part, or the slightly deranged part depending on your relationship to enclosed spaces, is that it’s actually a fully functioning home. It includes a bathroom, kitchen, dining room, bedroom, study, laundry area, and two staircases spread across two levels. All of those spaces fit inside the two-level structure, which now stands across from Aucallama’s main square as a local attraction.
The World’s Narrowest House Is Only 24.8 Inches Wide
Moreno has said the house is meant to show that happiness has little to do with size. It’s how well you use the space you have. That’s a lovely sentiment, though most people would probably prefer enough room to get dressed without becoming a contortionist. Even so, there’s a practical seriousness underneath the record attempt and the bright paint. Moreno wanted to test an idea about living small, and he built something for other people to actually experience.
Guinness currently lists Warsaw’s Keret House as the narrowest house in the world, measuring 92 cm (36.2 inches) at its narrowest point and 152 cm (59.8 inches) at its widest. Moreno’s house would beat that at least on the front measurement, though Guinness notes that records can change before updates appear online, and verification still requires official documentation.
So for now, the title remains unofficial. Still, even without the certificate, Moreno built a home that looks like a prank and functions like a real place. In the current housing era, that feels both absurd and strangely on the nose.
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