Florida Man Builds 10-Foot-Wide Tiny Home To Spite Neighbors, Then Lists It For $600,000

Almost everyone has heard the old saying, "When life gives you lemons, you make lemonade," and a man in South Jacksonville Beach, Florida, has recently taken that advice to heart. After his neighbors spearheaded an effort to deny his request to build a larger house on a narrow lot, this man built a 10-foot-wide, 1,547-square-foot tiny home to spite them. Now he's selling the house for $619,000.   

The two-story, 10-foot-wide house certainly looks interesting, but necessity is indeed the mother of invention. The property sits on an extremely narrow but very deep lot, and the current configuration was the only option left to the owner after his request for a variance was denied. The controversy surrounding its construction traces back to the fact that the previous owner only used it as a garden, a self-imposed restriction most likely brought about by its narrow shape.

Over time, the neighbors grew accustomed to the garden, and it's not uncommon for residents of small coastal communities like South Jacksonville Beach to shun new home construction in their neighborhoods. So, when they heard that builder and property owner John Atkins had plans to put a new home on the narrow lot, they banded together to stop it.

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A developer purchased 90% of the lots in South Jacksonville Beach in the 2000s and then built a new community on uniform 25-foot lots. Over time, some neighbors purchased lots from others, leaving a few narrow "leftover" lots that no one ever built on. Initially, the owner and builder sought a variance from the city to build a 15-foot-wide house on the narrow lot.

The neighbors rose en masse and attended a public hearing on the issue, where they all voiced extreme displeasure about the idea of approving any adjustments to the lot. The city sided with the neighbors, which limited the options for John Atkins and his builder. Although they were both veterans of building on these narrow, leftover lots, they had not expected to encounter so much resistance to their proposal.

The city's ruling left them with two options. One was to sell the lot to one of the same neighbors who had put the kibosh on their plans in the first place. The other was to build on the lot, but due to local lot size and clearance requirements, the house could only be 10 feet wide. However, the lot was also 25 feet deep, which theoretically left them enough space to build a 1,547-square-foot tiny home.

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Undeterred, they chose the second option, and much to the dismay of their neighbors, a brand new 10-foot-wide tiny home was built on the lot. It's a nice, albeit unique home with several interesting design elements. The house features expanding sections reminiscent of the sleeping quarters on a luxury mobile home to maximize the available space.

It has two bedrooms and two and a half bathrooms and comes equipped with built-ins custom-designed for the property. Although it's a bit smaller than the average Florida home of 1,700 square feet, it's still very functional and even has a one-car garage. Considering its location and unique configuration, listing agent Ryan Wetherhold of Oceanside Real Estate believes the $619,000 asking price is appropriate.

That's not to say that Wetherhold doesn't see the irony of the situation. Speaking to Business Insider, he said, "To be honest, the builder almost built this out of spite just because of that fact, ‘Oh, you don’t think we can build, hold my beer." The neighbors may be unhappy, but on the plus side, their homes should get a bump in value if the tiny house sells for its $619,000 asking price.

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