The narrowest house in Manhattan sits on Bedford Street in the West Village, measuring just 9.5 feet wide on the outside and 8 feet 7 inches on the inside. Built in 1873 to fill a gap between two townhouses that was originally a horsewalk, the building has outlasted four different eras of the city and is still a private residence today.
Most people walk past it without noticing. That's the point of this series — we spend a lot of time on the blocks we sell in Downtown Manhattan and Brooklyn, and the best stories are usually hiding in plain sight.
How a Horsewalk Became Manhattan's Narrowest Home
In the 1800s, rowhouses on Bedford Street needed a way for horses to reach the stables behind them. That access gap — 9.5 feet of unused space between two townhouses — sat there until 1873, when someone decided a house, however narrow, was worth more than a driveway. The result is 75½ Bedford Street: a fully functional red-brick home built into what was essentially an alley.
It's a small footnote in the neighborhood's history, but it says something real about the West Village as a whole. This is a part of Manhattan that was never master-planned. It grew block by block, gap by gap, which is exactly why it still feels different from the grid a few blocks east.
Who Has Lived at 75½ Bedford Street
The narrow house has a resume most seven-figure listings would envy. Poet Edna St. Vincent Millay lived there in the 1920s and added a small studio on the top floor. Anthropologist Margaret Mead and cartoonist William Steig both lived there after her. The building remains one of the most photographed doors in the West Village.
Why This Kind of Detail Matters When You're Evaluating a Building
A quirky footnote is fun on its own, but it's also a useful reminder for anyone evaluating prewar or character properties in Downtown Manhattan: the history behind a building — what it originally was, what was almost lost, what's been preserved — is part of what you're actually buying. It affects everything from co-op board character to renovation constraints to long-term value. Knowing a block this well is the difference between selling a listing and understanding a neighborhood.
More Hidden West Village History Worth Knowing
A few blocks from Bedford Street, Jefferson Market Library tells a similar story. Designed by Calvert Vaux — the same architect behind Central Park — the building opened in 1877 as a courthouse in a dramatic Venetian Gothic style, complete with a clock tower that doubled as a fire lookout. By 1958, the city had marked it for demolition. Village residents fought to save it, and in 1967 it reopened as the public library that still stands at Sixth Avenue and West 10th Street today.
Both buildings make the same point: in the West Village, what's still standing usually survived because someone decided it was worth saving.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the narrowest house in Manhattan? The narrowest house in Manhattan is located at 75½ Bedford Street in the West Village. It measures 9.5 feet wide on the exterior and 8 feet 7 inches wide on the interior.
Why is the Bedford Street house so narrow? The house was built in 1873 in a gap between two existing townhouses that had originally served as a horsewalk, giving horses access to stables behind the buildings.
Who has lived in the narrowest house in Manhattan? Notable past residents include poet Edna St. Vincent Millay, who lived there in the 1920s and added a top-floor studio, along with anthropologist Margaret Mead and cartoonist William Steig.
Is the narrowest house in Manhattan still standing? Yes. The house at 75½ Bedford Street is still a private residence today and remains one of the most photographed buildings in the West Village.
New York hides its best stories in plain sight — and so does the right building. If a move in Downtown Manhattan or Brooklyn is somewhere on your radar, that's exactly the kind of detail the Brewer Team pays attention to on your behalf.
