I own UK’s tiniest home – it’s only as wide as a Ford Focus but housed family of 6 & was nearly destroyed for mad reason

WHEN you’re a teeny tallness of 5”1, it’s not often you person to duck down to participate a building.

But that’s precisely what I recovered myself doing, arsenic I stepped into the smallest house successful Great Britain.

Nestled astatine the extremity of a terrace successful Conwy, North Wales, the tiny home has a level abstraction of conscionable 10ft by 5.9ft - meaning it's arsenic wide arsenic a Ford Focus.

There’s conscionable capable country wrong this cosy house for a fireplace, stove, and ladder up to a chamber with a azygous furniture - but nary bathroom.

There’s surely nary abstraction for a television, but that hasn’t stopped the TV licensing inspectors from knocking connected proprietor Jan Tyley’s door.

The 58-year-old solicitor's great-great grandfather, Robert Jones, bought the location for conscionable £20 successful 1891.

And the Grade II listed gathering has been passed down the household ever since.

“When I was little, it conscionable seemed similar it was portion of household life,” Jan says. “But since I inherited it from my relative Margaret successful 2015, it’s been rather a boast.

“When I archer radical I ain it, they respond either with astonishment, oregon actually, rather a batch of radical say, ‘Oh, I've been there. I cognize that.’ 

“The different question I get is, ‘What's the 2nd smallest location successful the country?’ The reply to which I person perfectly nary idea!”

Humble beginnings

The Smallest House, besides known arsenic Quay House, was built successful the 16th period betwixt 2 already-standing rows of cottages.

The terraced houses had a abstraction successful the middle, near for 1 of Conwy Castle’s towers.

Jan says: “It’s believed idiosyncratic built the location present during the night, acknowledgment to a regularisation that says if you tin physique a location aft sunset and person fume coming retired of the chimney by sunrise, you tin assertion the crippled arsenic your own. 

“It lone took a beforehand and a extortion to marque it into a property.”

While it’s not known who built the house, Jan has gone backmost done the census and recovered determination person been galore couples surviving unneurotic successful the house.

“When they did, they utilized to little the trapdoor, up there, down and rotation retired a mattress to screen the full floor, which is astir the aforesaid size arsenic a treble bed,” she adds.

Jan says the precise maximum magnitude of radical who tin acceptable into the location comfortably is six, but determination utilized to really beryllium a mum, dada and 4 children surviving successful the tiny house.

“The kids utilized to slumber connected hammocks hung betwixt the beams upstairs,” she says. “It’s perfectly crazy.”

The past idiosyncratic to unrecorded present was a section fisherman called Richard Jones, who, amazingly, was 6”3.

He was a sitting tenant erstwhile Jan’s great-great gramps bought the property, occupying it until May 1900, erstwhile the gathering was condemned arsenic being unfit for quality habitation and helium was forced to determination out.

Nearly knocked down

Due to nary of them having a toilet, the tiny location - on with the enactment of cottages to its near - were each astir to beryllium knocked down.

“But my great-great grandfather, having lone owned it for 9 years, was sitting successful the pub bemoaning his destiny to his friends, erstwhile 1 of his friends, the exertion of the section newspaper, Roger Dawson, said, ‘Well, it mightiness beryllium the smallest successful the country!’” says Jan.

Roger and Richard went up and enactment adverts successful papers crossed the country, asking radical to nonstop details of their tiny houses, earlier travelling astir Great Britain measuring them all.

Indeed, Quay House successful Conwy was the smallest, and they appealed to the assembly who agreed to permission it standing, arsenic agelong arsenic nary 1 lived successful it.

It’s been unfastened arsenic a tourer attraction ever since.

Jan says: “When my Auntie Lissy had it, she utilized to unrecorded adjacent door, and she had a motion successful the model saying, ‘Anybody who privation to spot wrong the smallest house, travel and sound connected the door.’

"So she would leap up from beverage oregon meal and unfastened up the location truthful radical could spot inside. 

“So it wasn't rather the aforesaid tourer attraction backmost past arsenic it is now.”

These days, it’s unfastened 7 days a week, from 10am to 4pm, and receives astir 50-60,000 visitors a year.

That’s, successful part, acknowledgment to Jan’s comparative Margaret, who she inherited the location from.

Jan explains: “When it was lived in, and up until the 1970s, it was creamy-white outside, but it was Margaret who chose to overgarment it red. 

“She thought it would basal out, and reddish is simply a precise Welsh colour, and, indeed, it was Margaret, too, who brought successful the contented of the ladies connected the doorway wearing Welsh costumes.”

And past year, Jan moved from Oxford to Saint Asaph, 25 minutes distant from the house, truthful she could cheque connected it much regularly.

She says: “There's ever rolling attraction we person to do. 

“Unfortunately, with the backmost partition being portion of an past monument, it's not the driest of environments.”

Sadly, Jan besides has to woody with thieves.

She says: “The astir bizarre happening - we utilized to person the Bible connected the furniture upstairs. 

“We've got railings up there, due to the fact that evidently we can't person thousands of radical walking connected the floor, and, somehow, idiosyncratic managed to get it from the acold extremity of the furniture out. Goodness knows how. 

“So present we don't enactment a Bible connected the bed!”

Cheeky offers

Of course, Jan doesn’t really unrecorded successful the location - and has nary plans to.

“I couldn’t,” she laughs. “I similar my carnal comforts excessively much!”

But she has perfectly nary plans to merchantability it.

“Amazingly, we get radical offering to bargain it for £20 now, but I accidental no!” she laughs.

Instead, she’s already lining up her youngest son, who is 22, arsenic the heir to the smallest house.

“He’s very, precise keen connected taking it connected successful years to come,” she says.

“He really deputised for maine past week, portion I was connected holiday, and helium knows precisely what he’s doing.”