The world's narrowest house sits wedged between two buildings in Warsaw, it's just 72cm wide, here's what it looks like inside

Widely described as the narrowest house in the world, the Keret House sits wedged into a slender gap between two buildings in Warsaw, Poland. At its narrowest point, the structure spans just 72 centimetres (28 inches), widening to 122 centimetres (48 inches) at its broadest. Designed by Polish architect Jakub Szczesny of Centrala, the structure was conceived as both an art installation and a functional living space, occupying roughly 150 square feet of previously unused space between a postwar housing cooperative and a prewar former Jewish tenement building.

A design built around every centimetre

Every inch of the compact structure has been put to use. The interior packs in a kitchenette, dining and sitting area, bathroom, workspace and sleeping area, all spread across multiple levels within the narrow footprint.

Indian influencer Rishabh Wadhwa recently visited the house and posted a walkthrough of its tiny interior, highlighting how the space-efficient design manages to accommodate multiple functions within such a constrained structure. Access to the house is not directly from the main street; visitors instead reach it through an alley, where steel stairs lead up into the building. The main entrance itself remains hidden from the sidewalk behind a wall roughly 6½ feet tall.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Rishabh Wadhwa (@blessedarch)

Three levels packed into a narrow frame

Inside, the house is arranged across three distinct levels. The ground floor serves as the entrance, while the next level up houses the bathroom, kitchenette, seating area and workspace. A ladder connects this floor to the uppermost level, where the bed is situated.

Despite its minimal footprint, the house manages to include a shower, toilet, mirror, storage space and dedicated work areas. A skylight running the length of the ceiling brings natural light into the otherwise tightly enclosed interior, while lighting elements have been built directly into the structural framework, blending functional necessity with the house's overall minimalist design language.

From a chance observation to a completed structure

Wadhwa's video was captioned, "The narrowest house in the world. The Keret House in Warsaw designed by Jakub Szczęsny." According to the account, the concept originated when Szczesny, while walking down the street, noticed the unusually narrow gap between two existing buildings and envisioned transforming the space into a functional structure that would effectively link them together.

The house was built for Israeli writer Etgar Keret, who uses it both as a workspace and, on occasion, as a residence. Construction faced a number of hurdles tied to Warsaw's building regulations; due to its unconventional dimensions, location and intended purpose, the city ultimately classified the structure as an art installation, according to a report by Houzz magazine. The project was completed in October 2012, following roughly three years of construction work.

Today, the Keret House stands as one of Warsaw's most distinctive architectural landmarks, illustrating how even the narrowest and most overlooked urban gaps can be reimagined into genuinely usable living spaces.