London’s Small Houses: “Have we stopped building them?”

I cycled past this house last Sunday - I was on a ramble - and wondered who lived there. Someone short like me?


["There are many lovely small houses in Old South": photo GH]

I like small houses because my wife (also relatively short) and I fit well inside a cozy space.

When this particular house on Cynthia St. in Old South (between Byron and Askin St.) was built in the 1930s or ‘40s, however, I bet it held more than a husband and wife.

Would you be surprised if you learned it once was home to a mom and dad and three kids? I suppose your answer depends on when you were born.

For example, I was born in 1949 and my four siblings and I shared two bedrooms in the upstairs of a small century-old house in a village 40 miles east of London.

I notice this house (800 - 900 sq. ft.) not only has a lovely porch but a small upstairs as well, and years ago it was very common for kids to share a bedroom. (Some still do, but I hear that it’s not the norm. Please note; I'm rambling).

Today, I bet a retired couple live inside, with one car for the small driveway. And with more people retiring, I think this kind of house would get snapped up in a second if it was priced reasonably.

Would you raise a family here or consider this house as a retirement home?

Do we still build houses this size? If not, why not?

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Please click here to view another small house.

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