The smallest house in Britain can be found on the quayside in Conwy in North Wales. Located just a stone’s throw away from the imposing Conwy Castle, the house is so small it’s no longer deemed liveable.
The History Of The Smallest House In Britain
Built in the 16th century, the smallest house in Britain, also known as Quay House, measures just 72 inches wide and 122 inches high, with 1.5 meters squared of useable floor space. This house is so tiny; it even has a place in the Guinness Book of World Records since the 1920s.
The same family has owned the smallest house in Britain since 1891. The current owner, Jan Tyley, is the fifth generation owner in her family, with her great-great-grandfather, Robert Jones, being the first.
When her great-great-grandfather purchased the property for £20 in 1891, it also came with a sitting tenant, who also happened to be called Robert Jones.
Robert Jones (the tenant) was a 6ft 3 fisherman and the last known occupant of the smallest house in Britain; he lived in the property until 1900. The rooms in the house were too small for him to stand up in, and he was eventually forced to move out; the council then declared the property unfit for human habitation.
After the house was declared unfit for human habitation, Robert Jones (the owner) toured the country with his friend, Roger Dawson, who was the editor of North Wales Weekly News, measuring other small houses to see if he was indeed the smallest.
Having established that he did indeed own the smallest house in Britain, the council agreed to save the house from demolition and allow it to be opened as a tourist attraction, which it has remained ever since.
The Smallest House In Britain Today
Today the house welcomes around 55,000 visitors per year; it contains just two rooms, one upstairs and one downstairs; they include a fireplace and a single bed; there is no bathroom in the property.
Admission to the property is £1.50, and inside is information about the house; however, visitors cant go upstairs due to structural instability.
In recent years the company Snug, wanted to back up their claim that their new sofa, ‘The Small Biggie’, could fit in even the most awkward of places.
Snug managed to get their ‘sofa’ into the house’s living room; it’s believed to be the only sofa that has ever been in the house during its 400 years of existence. Visitors could take photos sitting on the Snug sofa inside the smallest house in Britain. However, the sofa won’t be a permanent fixture as tourists can’t even move once inside the house.
If you like this small house, check out Tolstoy Park, a one-room house located in Montrose, Alabama.