Believe it or not there is quite a competition as to which is the narrowest house in London. Many years ago, in one of my “Secret London History” series of books, I wrote about such a property near Marble Arch just across the road from Hyde Park. It forms part of a convent and like other candidates, it seems that the property was created in order to “block” up a lane or even a passageway.
What is probably in no doubt is that with the price of houses in London, even a tiny property has a high price tag attached to it. The house I want to describe in this article is located at 110 Goldhawk Road, in Shepard’s Bush, west London. Like the one mentioned above, it was built in the 1870s in order to block a narrow lane between two shops. So, it is no surprise that the first use it was put to was as a hat shop.
It is no longer a shop but has been converted into a domestic residence. But who besides a very thin person would like to live in it? Well, nothing is as it might be thought. You see, although the entrance is only six feet wide, once you are inside, you would find that the original lane was wedge-shaped; so it does widen out a little bit. But it still remains very narrow.
However, what it lacks in width is slightly made up by the five floors the house occupies. It even has a small garden, probably great for growing Bonsai plants! Whether it is the narrowest house in London or one of the others, it has still earned a name from the locals. Since the house is larger on the inside than the exterior, it has been named the “Tardis House.” Perhaps Dr Who secretly lives there!
John Pullen 