Do you find city life expensive? Well, at least you can tell yourself you don’t live in New York! Housing prices in the Big Apple are notoriously high because of supply and demand, and, well, because Manhattan is an island. With limited space comes the obligation to build upwards and dig underground, instead of expanding sideways.
Over the years, that urban density strategy has led to some pretty interesting architectural choices. New York has been, and in some cases still is, home to the world’s highest bridges and buildings. The city also has an incredibly complex underground network of tunnels and tracks known as the subway, which carries 5.7 million riders each week.
Perhaps the most bizarre result of urban densification in New York City is a small townhouse whose address will remind you of a Harry Potter book. The three-story brick building at 75 ½ Bedford Street in the West Village has the dubious honour of being the narrowest house in Manhattan! It also happens to be right down the street from the Friends apartment, and it was home to Pulitzer Prize winning poet Edna St. Vincent Millay in the 1920s.
Source: Map Data: Google
Plus, it’s just about the cutest house you’ll ever see! Check out the Instagram photos:
The property at 75 ½ Bedford Street was sold in 2013 for the whopping sum of $3.25 million USD. That’s a lot of money for such a narrow house, but hey… This is New York we’re talking about!
Source: Curbed New York