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Israeli Author Makes World’s Skinniest House Home in Warsaw 72 Years After His Family Left

Oct. 22, 2012 4:20pm Liz Klimas

An Israeli author remembers a story his mother told him about the time before she was orphaned in Poland during the Holocaust. She said she wanted to give up and die, but her father told her that it was her mission to survive and prevent the Nazi’s from “[erasing] our family name from the land.”

The name Keret now is on the front door of what could arguably be the world’s skinniest house, giving the Keret’s a home in Poland after 72 years.

Etgar Keret Moves Into Four Foot Wide Keret House in Warsaw That Is Symbolic Link to Would War II

A passerby walks past one of the world s narrowest houses, in Warsaw, Poland. (Photo: AP/Alik Keplicz)

Over the weekend, Etgar Keret, a writer known for his short stories, moved into a house built by architect Jakub Szczesny that is only four feet wide, but still comes complete with a bathroom, a kitchen and a bedroom.

Etgar Keret (Photo: Wikimedia)

On Friday, Keret wrote in Tablet Magazine about his new, occasional homestead — he won’t be living in the skinny house full time. He writes of his excitement to be going home. “Here’s how this happened,” he writes:

Three years ago, Jakub Sazczesny, a Polish architect, called me and tried to explain by phone that he wanted to build a home for me in Warsaw, the narrowest home in the world. At the time, I thought his crazy idea, along with his heavily Polish-accented English, which made our conversation comical, had to be a practical joke engineered by one of my friends. A few weeks later, Jakub arrived in Israel, and when I met him face to face, I realized that he was totally serious. The idea was to build a house with the same proportions as my stories: as minimalist and as small as possible. When Jakub first saw the unused space between two houses at 22 Chlodna Street, he decided that he had to build something there. When we met, he showed me the building plans for a narrow, three-story house.

After bringing the plans for the space back to his mother, Keret continued writing that she recognized the street as a place where she, as a girl, had smuggled food to her parents. He wrote “it’s a pushy little home,” going on to describe it as a home that says:

A family once lived in this city. They’re not here anymore, but everyone who walks past me will have to stop for a minute and look at my narrow, defiant body, look at the sign and remember that family’s name.

The house has been named the Keret House.

Szczesny said Friday he designed the two-story aluminum and plastic house three years ago to fill a narrow space between a pre-war house and a modern apartment block in downtown Warsaw.

The Foundation of Polish Modern Art and Warsaw Town Hall helped fund the project, which they consider an art work.

The triangular building runs 33 feet deep at the base and stands 30 feet tall. Metal and aluminum pipes hold the structure nearly 10 feet above the ground. To enter, visitors climb a metal staircase and squeeze through a hole to enter the building.

A man climbs the front steps into a new house that is only four feet wide. (Photo: AP/Czarek Sokolowski)

The ground floor contains a toilet and shower, a kitchen with a sink and cupboards, a table for two, and a bean bag sofa. Another metal ladder goes to the second floor, which has a nearly double-size bed, a table and a chair, according to the Associated Press. Yahoo! Homes writer analyzes this language stating that “‘nearly double-size’ sounds like code for a twin bed to us, and that ‘sofa’ appears to stretch the definition, too.”

3D visualization provided by the Foundation of Polish Modern Art shows the interior of the Keret s House. (Image: AP/Foundation of Polish Modern Art)

Watch this BBC World News video showing footage of the home:

Szczesny told Friday’s news conference that the building achieves two goals: filing an empty city space and linking Warsaw’s World War II tragedy, when more than half the city was destroyed, with modern buildings that went up afterward.

“It is a kind of a memorial to my family,” said Keret, explaining that his mother’s and father’s families died in the Holocaust under Nazi Germany’s occupation of Poland, and his paternal grandfather died in Warsaw’s 1944 uprising against the Nazis.

Keret said he only visits Warsaw twice a year, so other tenants will be able to try out the tight quarters of the non-profit building for free, too.

This isn’t the first time the Keret House has been making headlines. Several design publications have written about the fascinating space, like Sin Bad Design and Trend Hunter last year.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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Comments (23)

woodyee
Posted on October 22, 2012 at 8:29pm
Just think…if it were built into a multi-apartment unit, it’d be the human equivalent of an ant farm…

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- FreeUsAll
  Posted on October 22, 2012 at 11:55pm
  Lol. You could connect several of them together with large clear tubes to facilitate movement between each complex.
  
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- sickofitinca
  Posted on October 23, 2012 at 12:28am
  Isn’t this like some of the small apartments in NYC?
  
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- rose-ellen
  Posted on October 23, 2012 at 8:16am
  Cool. Like Helen Thomas said;they should go home to poland ,russia,america etc.,
  
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woodyee
Posted on October 22, 2012 at 8:25pm
Liz, Liz,…

It’s the world’s NARROWEST house. How can something that can never be fat, be skinny?.

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- Melika
  Posted on October 23, 2012 at 8:44am
  Because its Liz and she is the least qualified person on staff. Thank God for Affirmative Action, otherwise there would be someone qualified and deserving of the paycheck- probably a man.
  
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venrooy
Posted on October 22, 2012 at 8:23pm
I like the concept… but if I took a viagra, I’d be trapped in that house for 4 hours.

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- woodyee
  Posted on October 22, 2012 at 8:26pm
  Lmfao!!!!
  
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- FreeUsAll
  Posted on October 22, 2012 at 11:52pm
  Lmao!!
  
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ZZBlueComet
Posted on October 22, 2012 at 7:23pm
Candy Crowley needs to stay out there – the EMS would have to break out the Jaw of Life!

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ZaphodsPlanet
Posted on October 22, 2012 at 5:47pm
Wow, it’s the ultimate recycling center. You can reach into the kitchen for more food while you take a crap. Only a liberal would come up with something as asinine as this stupid ass closet. I think it would be a good place for BO and MO to retire to for their jail sentence for life for treason after we kick their sorry butts out of office.

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- kindling
  Posted on October 22, 2012 at 6:54pm
  Not wide enough for MOOchelle.
  
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Detroit paperboy
Posted on October 22, 2012 at 5:21pm
I like my big house, my big suv, my huge backyard, my heated pool, my thermostat at 72* …I AM AMERICAN , I AM AMERICAN , and the rest of the world can kiss my American asss……does anybody remember what that means ???????????

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- Marci
  Posted on October 22, 2012 at 5:31pm
  The problem I have with this concept is that so many people are designing these tiny living spaces ahead of a “sustainable initiative” pushed by globalists–many of whom are in our current administration. You know, the ones who want to crowd everyone in city centers and do away with personal transportation. Maybe these guys are just securing their future jobs.
  
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- pavepaws
  Posted on October 22, 2012 at 5:46pm
  No piano?
  
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- woodyee
  Posted on October 22, 2012 at 8:31pm
  LOL w/ PavePaws!
  
  Have you ever looked up “tiny house” on youtube?
  
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- flatbroke
  Posted on October 22, 2012 at 8:40pm
  @ DETROIT PARERBOY, Amen and Amen! I second, and miss your sentiment more than you can imagine, thank the Lord above somebody in the USA feels the same way i do, I am an American as well and the rest of the world can kiss my arse. I am S+T of the appoligy administration, apploigising for America, and i miss, and want My country back.
  
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Psychosis
Posted on October 22, 2012 at 5:08pm
now this gives those pushing agenda 21 a really big woody

………..though the frequent bumping of said woody would be well deserved in this house …..make those nuts live in a house like this permanently

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offbrat56
Posted on October 22, 2012 at 4:48pm
Interesting! This “place” probably has more space/living space than many of the Jews were provided during WW II in homes where they were hidden. As a twice a year place to reside, it would be fairly functional, I would think.

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L.B.Stephens
Posted on October 22, 2012 at 4:40pm
I think after about a half an hour in that house, I would want to run out of there to get some air. Four feet wide is just too cramped for me.
Claustrophobia you know.

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The-Monk
Posted on October 22, 2012 at 4:39pm
If that was in the US the lib’s would sue because it’s not “obese friendly”…

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- TedBohne
  Posted on October 22, 2012 at 6:09pm
  And they should, it’s not that persons fault that they are fat. praise be to the mighty that good people like Mrs. Obama and mayor Bloomberg have taken an active stand against corporations forcing unhealthy foods in to us.
  
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Voter713
Posted on October 22, 2012 at 4:31pm
Im getting claustrophic just looking at the pics!

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