The Daily Populous Wednesday May 22nd, 2024 morning edition
Authored by clickorlando.com and submitted by Sariel007

The front of the 10-foot-wide "Skinny House" in Jacksonville Beach (Photo Credit: Ryan Wetherhold, Oceanside Real Estate)

JACKSONVILLE BEACH, Fla. – A recently finished home in Jacksonville Beach dubbed the “Skinny House” caused a furor online after it was revealed to be a mere 10 feet wide — but with a listing price of $619,000.

The home — located at 1952 Horn Street in Jacksonville Beach — features two bedrooms, three bathrooms and over 1,500 square feet of living space.

Rear aerial view of the home (Photo Credit: Ryan Wetherhold, Oceanside Real Estate) (Ryan Wetherhold, Oceanside Real Estate)

It went viral after hitting the market earlier this year, though listing broker Ryan Wetherhold told News 6 it was an uphill battle.

Lots in the area have historically all been 25 feet wide, Wetherhold explained, but many nearby owners combined their lots together to build houses, which left some uneven spaces.

The lot this home was built on was one such leftover plot of land.

Approximation of the property's boundaries (Photo Credit: Ryan Wetherhold, Oceanside Real Estate) (Ryan Wetherhold, Oceanside Real Estate)

“We have lots that were planted maybe a century ago, but then we have a building code that’s more modern, that’s been refined over time,” he said. “And it doesn’t necessarily fit some of these laws that were planted by municipalities decades and decades ago.”

Wetherhold said they initially wanted to make the house 15 feet wide — a standard for many townhomes — but building codes required the home to have 7.5 feet of space on either side of it.

The home was required to have at least 7.5 feet of space between itself and the surrounding properties (Photo Credit: Ryan Wetherhold, Oceanside Real Estate) (Ryan Wetherhold, Oceanside Real Estate)

While they tried to get the rule changed through the board of adjustment, surrounding residents of the high-end neighborhood who wanted the plot to remain open pushed back.

One such resident had started a garden on the plot and persuaded others to attend a public meeting to voice their disapproval.

The backyard, where a garden was once planted by a neighbor before the home was built (Photo Credit: Ryan Wetherhold, Oceanside Real Estate) (Ryan Wetherhold, Oceanside Real Estate)

“You get that mob mentality where it carries. The board members then can’t make it their own decision,” Wetherhold stated. “If there’s 100 people there that say no, and there’s no one that says, ‘Yeah, let’s do it,’ those folks carry. Those voices carry.”

As a result, Wetherhold and builder John Atkins were stuck with the 10-foot-wide option.

“He got creative within the code and was able to do bay windows, bump-out seating that really helped, and that was the difference,” Wetherhold said. “Being able to utilize his knowledge within the building code to make it, honestly, a very user-friendly, nice, practical home for a buyer.”

Hallway with bump-out seating (Photo Credit: Ryan Wetherhold, Oceanside Real Estate) (Ryan Wetherhold, Oceanside Real Estate)

And while they only had 10 feet of width for the home, the property was 140 feet deep, giving them far more options to work with.

First-floor living room space leading into the backyard (Photo Credit: Ryan Wetherhold, Oceanside Real Estate) (Ryan Wetherhold, Oceanside Real Estate)

Stories about the home got picked up by outlets like Business Insider and Zillow Gone Wild, which helped the listing gain more traction.

During an open house on the property, Wetherhold saw hundreds of visitors. Even many of the neighbors began showing support.

“Normally, you get 50 views in the first few days, and this one already had 1,000 to 2,000 within the first few days,” he said. “So we knew right when we put it out there that it was something special, something unique and something that was definitely an eye-opener.”

Kitchen area inside the home (Photo Credit: Ryan Wetherhold, Oceanside Real Estate) (Ryan Wetherhold, Oceanside Real Estate)

In fact, Wetherhold said it was thanks to the viral coverage that he now has a buyer.

“That’s interesting because as a broker, I put a lot of effort into marketing, and you hope to just reach people through the normal avenues just by your marketing,” h said. “But (the buyer) actually did see it through all the publicity it’s gotten.”

From a birds-eye view, the "Skinny House" sticks out from its surrounding neighbors. (Photo Credit: Ryan Wetherhold, Oceanside Real Estate) (Ryan Wetherhold, Oceanside Real Estate)

However, Wetherhold provided a word of caution about the property. Because of the narrow scope of its width, it can be tough to store larger vehicles inside the garage.

“You can fit a truck in there, but to get the doors open and whatnot — it’s a pretty tight fit,” he explained. “In our community, though, we sell a lot of one-or-two garages, and we find no one in our community even parks in the garage. What they put in their garage, it’s golf carts, bikes, beach stuff and lawn equipment.”

Interior of the garage (Photo Credit: Ryan Wetherhold, Oceanside Real Estate) (Ryan Wetherhold, Oceanside Real Estate)

Despite that, there are plenty of notable features on which to sell the house, Wetherhold argued.

For example: the built-in dining table was made out of reclaimed wood from a local pier that was destroyed by Hurricane Matthew in 2016.

The built-in dining table on the home's first floor (Photo Credit: Ryan Wetherhold, Oceanside Real Estate) (Ryan Wetherhold, Oceanside Real Estate)

The home also has decent vertical space, with 9-foot-high ceilings on the bottom floor and vaulted ceilings (reaching up to 10 feet high) up top.

Second floor of the home (Photo Credit: Ryan Wetherhold, Oceanside Real Estate) (Ryan Wetherhold, Oceanside Real Estate)

While he already has a buyer under contract, Wetherhold said he is still accepting backup offers for the home in the slight chance that the deal falls through.

“Everything at this point looks like it’s going through, but on any deal, you never know until it’s completely done,” he said.

To check out the listing on Zillow, click here.

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amazingbollweevil on May 21st, 2024 at 20:19 UTC »

For the past few years, I've had a tape measure on my desk. Not because I need to measure things, but because I once had to measure my screen so I could sell it and never got around to putting it back.

Every once in a while, I look at it and think "I should put that back in the tool drawer." Then I see an article that references the size of thing (e.g., length of a sword) and I wonder how big it is. I glance over at the tape measure and think, "I've got a tape measure right here!"

Without getting out of my seat, just now I learned that I probably could live in a house that was ten feet across.

Plow_King on May 21st, 2024 at 14:21 UTC »

ah, so they used bump out/bay windows for seating and such to have things wider than 10ft in it. clever! you can see the overhang in some exterior shots.

arbutus1440 on May 21st, 2024 at 14:00 UTC »

The only thing that pisses me off about this story is that the article says it "caused a furor online" with no evidence of such a furor provided. The hyperlink leads to a page that mentions absolutely nothing about the home other thank linking back to this story.

Rage bait is the Omicron variant of clickbait.

The home is cool. The story behind it is mildly interesting. Home values in that area put the value for a brand-new home with 1500 square feet around that price. The rage bait is the only actual problem here.