The Story Behind Toronto’s Little House

It may look like a playhouse for children, but it’s not. Believe it or not, fully grown people actually live there. My guess is that they aren’t too tall and they don’t weigh very much.

Built in 1912 by contractor Arthur Weeden, Toronto’s Little House, as it’s known, is only about 7′ wide, 47′ deep, with a total of less than 300 square feet of living space inside. (The Spite House we looked at recently has two stories and 325 square feet, so this is actually smaller.)

There’s an e-mail circulating calling it the “Smallest House in Brooklyn,” but after doing a little research, I found out that it is actually in Toronto. It has become a popular tourist attraction and even has its own webpage: Toronto’s Little House.

It has a living room, kitchen, bedroom, and bath. They even found room to tuck a washer and dryer in there. Talk about clever space planning! The home was sold for $135,000 at the beginning of 2007 to a couple who renovated it and put it back on the market for $179,900.

Here’s the house before it was renovated:

And after:

Even the front walkway was redone with tumbled stone, and a window was added for charming effect. Inside everything looks new. Here’s the entry:

The living room:

The kitchen, which comes with a folding table and chairs so that they don’t take up space when you’re not using them:

UPDATE: There had been some questions in the comments asking where they stashed the fridge and the bathroom. A Hooked on Houses reader found photos of them for me (thanks, Mike!). Here’s the fridge, tucked right in behind the washer and dryer:

And here’s the small, but efficient, bath:

The bedroom, with Murphy Bed open (door leads to backyard):

And the bedroom with the Murphy Bed put up:

The back of the house and patio:

The official webpage explains that Toronto contractor Arthur Weeden noticed the unused space between the two larger homes and declared, “In order to use the land, I will build on it” (Toronto Sun Telegram, 1939). After completing the house, he and his wife lived in it for 20 years. After that a family with three children lived there for many years, which is hard to imagine!

Real estate agent Cristina Lopes, whose listing it was last year, told the NY Daily News, “The house is just so unique and cute, its [fame has] spread to all corners of the globe.” She got inquiries from as far away as New Zealand and Hong Kong. No takers yet, though. Until then, it’s being rented out.

Ellen Degeneres talked about Toronto’s Little House on her talk show last year. To watch her very funny interview with Cristina Lopes, click here.

Big thanks to Hooked on Houses reader Marie at Watch the Wind Blow By for forwarding this to me. I love when readers send me fun stuff. Check out her site to see what decorating projects she’s working on today!

To see more unusually small–or freakishly big–houses, check these out:

• The Spite House: a truly tiny house in Alexandria, Virginia.
• Dolly Parton’s childhood home in the mountains of Tennessee.
• A House as Big as Utah: a house that is the total opposite of this one!
• Tumbleweed Tiny Houses: houses built for living small

Tagged as: bathroom, Brooklyn, Canada, Decorating, kitchen, odd news, real estate tiny, small space, spite house, Toronto