San Francisco is widely known for its narrow homes, but did you know that America’s skinniest house is in Long Beach, CA? As it turns out, this 10-foot-wide anomaly was built as a result of a dare. Find out all there is to know about this skinny home.

The Skinny House

Skinny House is the nickname given to this 10-foot-wide home located in the Rose Park neighborhood of Long Beach, California. Situated on 708 Gladys Avenue, off the corner of 7th Street, this home has been recognized as the nation’s skinniest house by:

• Guinness Book of World Records
• Ripley’s Believe It or Not

The style of the home follows a Tudor style, familiar to Medieval architecture in England and Wales. The Skinny House has two bedrooms, one bathroom, and a deck on the third floor.

History of Skinny House

In 1932, Newton P. Rummonds received repayment of a $100 loan from the previous year in the form of a lot of land measuring 10 feet by 50 feet. Shortly after receiving the plot of land, Rummonds began building the Skinny House into what would become an 860-square-foot property when someone bet him he couldn’t build a home that could be lived in in the space provided. Later, in 1959, it was determined that the home leaned four inches north. It was immediately corrected. Through the years 1977 to 1981, the public interest lawyer William John Cox practiced out of the Skinny House. In 1983, the Skinny House became registered as a city landmark of the city of Long Beach.