House Plans For Narrow Lots With & Without Front Garages

We may not all have the luxury of owning massive lots where you can simply place whatever house you wish on. You might be living in an area like New York where lot prices are through the roof, and you’re therefore looking to maximize the bang for your buck and likely build a 2-story or a 3-story house instead of keeping it more flat. However, you could also find that what you’re in fact looking for is a duplex, as they do not require space in between each individual property, and while you may choose to live in one, the other one can easily be rented out to help cover your own cost of living there.

There are certain features that are more obvious to consider when you’re building on a narrow plot, however, here are some things you may want to think about having.

Features to consider
1 bedroom	1.5 story	1-story
3 bedroom	Simple	Small ranch
Timber frame	Walkout basement	Tower

Although you may want to have a house that is taller than it is wide, you may still wish to have a parking spot you can use, even if you’re building modern, beach retreat.

Either way, we have combined a range of different narrow lot house plan options for you to consider, some of them with a front garage, and some without, when you have a narrow lot and hope you’ll find something in between that you may like, whether it’s single-story, 2-story or 3-story. Whether your lot is long and narrow or simply small, that won’t be an issue with them.

Long and Narrow Shotgun layouts

These are also often referred to as shotgun houses, although the real name may stem from the word “shogon” instead, that are houses usually no wider than 12 feet, while on the other hand they may be significantly longer, if the plan isn’t to build towards the sky.

While they may be long and narrow, they can still be very unique in the way that they are made. A common feature is also to have a drive under section where the family’s car is parked, and having the living room and bedrooms on floors higher up. Even if you’re having to build on a small lot, you may not necessarily want to forego your garage. While our site does feature row houses, having a narrow house does not necessarily mean that that is what you’re confined to building. They will usually look very much alike on the outside, and for ease of building and since a lot of them are built at one time, they may additionally have the same floor layout.

We are giving you the option to actually create something unique, something that fit your taste and needs, while taking the limitations of the lot into account, too. Very common variations featured here include ones that are 20×40 ft, or others being 30×50 ft.

Front garages

Although you may be building a skinny design, it doesn’t mean that you’re not looking for some of the same amenities you would look for in a more traditional, detached home. With these narrow lot options, the most popular place to actually put a garage is in the front, because the plans simply make it the more functional option to go with.

While you do have more limitations with a lot that is confined by its size than you would have with one that could easily fit a U-shaped or L-shaped home, it does not mean that you have to give up on those features that you value so dearly. You may just have to be a bit more creative in the way that you choose to incorporate those aspects into your living situation, and that could easily mean that the best option is to include a front garage on the lower level of the home, while having the living area on the levels above it. It can be especially convenient if your lot additionally has exterior elevation on top of also being narrow.

Drive under houses

This type, the drive-under option, that has the garage on the lowest floor is not just popular when it comes to narrow lot options, but also in other scenarios that may benefit from it, such as when being higher up and placing both bedroom and entertainment options at a higher elevation will provide you with significantly better views, too. It just so happens to be extremely popular with the designs on this specific page because of all the functionality that it adds to spaces with small lots, ensuring that you’re not spending additional square footage on top of the actual lot to provide you with convenient access to parking for your car.

Easy access to a lake or beach?

The lots situated right on either a beach or a lake are usually incredibly expensive, especially if you’re in parts of the world where land prices go through the roof, such as in California. We understand your desires to have access to both of these facilities, and we do not blame you at all.

While we may all want that contemporary U-shaped house on the beach, the lot is prohibitively expensive for most people that haven’t invented social media apps used by billions of people across the world. The same goes for the variation that has an additional 2 legs, the H-shaped home, which also just takes up more space than most have there, and that’s why you might be looking in the direction of something more modest, while still giving you those beautiful views that you crave.

The options here could still provide you what you’re looking for at a more reasonable cost.

Zero Lot-Line

Zero-lot-line designs are a variation that is often used for narrow lots, in that the house basically borders the property line to make better use of all the land available on the lot. If that is what you’re looking for, we also encourage you to visit our page dedicated to row houses, as that selection of the plans available on the site may better answer your curiosity. Another common type with that feature are townhomes and come as both attached and detached residences.

Narrow lot homes can be great but can also have their limitations. If you know for sure that you’ll use it as a beach retreat, there are certain things you will want to consider as you’re choosing the right design. Here are some special factors that may impact your decision, whether you’re building narrow or not.

Special factors to consider
Pool	Multi-family	Double garage
Customization	Beach	Lake

Small, rustic, bungalow

While the typical design included on this specific page is likely to be smaller than your average 3 or 4 bedroom design, reality is that you can find great narrow options and their respective floor plans with a bunch of various features, including varying levels of rustic or being in a bungalow style, just to mention a few of the available options.

20 x 40 and 30 x 50

If you’re curious about what size our most popular options on this page include, then you will be interested to know that the most common variations include the 20×40 ft and the 30×50 feet. If you are building a couple of stories tall, then you can easily get in excess of 1,500 sq ft using these different plans, which should be enough for an average size family.

Duplex & Triplex

For the person who is interested in making sure that you’re not just building what you want to build, but where you may also be additionally focused on the return on investment of building, we encourage you to take a look at the plans included our dedicated duplex and triplex page that are both perfect for narrow lots but also give you great opportunities to start recouping your investment while you’re living there. Although our system is set up so that you can use various filters, sorting by going straight for the home category you’re interested in will save you a bunch of time.

Single-Story or Two-story?

The two-story options are our most popular subcategory on this page as you may avoid some of the potential foundation issues that come from building even taller, while you’re still managing to get the necessary square footage on a lot with a limited size.

If you’re building these  in the middle of the city, you may also realize that a single-story won’t provide you the same amount of privacy that you may want, especially for your bedrooms.

Luxurious, contemporary & modern, or something else

We’re not saying that there is one type of home that fits everyone, why we want to make it abundantly clear that it’s important that you find the home that best matches your needs, while keeping the inherent limitations in mind that you can’t get out of. So if you are wanting something that is luxurious, contemporary and modern, we also have options that allow you to build those. If it’s a 4 bedroom, Craftsman and coastal home that you know you specifically want, you might, however, be getting a little bit more specific than what we are able to offer.

Dimensions

The good news is that you can get the plans altered if you have specific wishes that you want to have incorporated, although there are naturally some limitations when you’re choosing such a specific category as this one is.

Whether you’re building this as your lake retreat or the place you plan on spending a lot of time, we’re sure we can help. When you’re done with your project, we hope you’ll send us the messages and share your happiness with us.

There are various definitions when it comes to building terminology, and if you’re in various states there are even different standards for what is defined as a narrow lot. The definition that we go by on this website is that you are operating with a narrow lot if the one that you have is less than 50 feet wide.

Building on a narrow lot requires a lot of strategy that you wouldn’t need to consider if you had a bigger plot. When you’re building there, you best strategy is to think vertically, and seek out the various design options on the site, keeping your plot’s dimensions in the back of your head as you’re strategizing. You not only want to make sure that you are about to build something that works with your plot, but you will also want to make sure that you’re finding something that works in terms of style.

You are typically operating with a deeper lot than you may otherwise have access to, and that also lends itself to options that have deeper designs as well. While you may be able to find designs across the platform that could potentially work for plots more narrow than 50 feet wide, the ones that we have listed on this page are going to be the ones that have been chosen because we believe they’re the best suited ones for your purpose.

While your options may be more limited with a narrow house, there are still a lot of styles to consider:

Styles to consider
Pole barn	Chalet-style
Lake	English cottage
Craftsman	Bungalow

Energy efficiency

There are various benefits that you can get from building on one of these plots that some people believe are more difficult. However, with that being said, building vertical can be extremely advantageous when it comes to energy efficiency. When you have a ranch, there is a lot more surface area, which also means that yours will be a lot less energy efficient than a tall house will be.

If you’re like most people, you will not want to forego privacy, high ceilings and open spaces just because you’re building vertical. It does mean you will want to consider the layout of the design so it has the necessary open spaces, as well as windows allowing you to keep the necessary privacy. If the ones you’re looking at have big windows in front, you will naturally be giving up some of that hard-to-earn privacy that you don’t have an abundance of when it comes to narrow styles.

Meanwhile, you will want to make sure that the narrow house you’re building has all the necessary features. If you’re building it on or near the beach, you will want it to have all the features that any beach retreat would have, even if you’re working with something that is more narrow than typical homes.

As with other types, they come in various shapes and forms with all the various features. You can even get ranches for narrow lots as well as multi-family options. You can also find them with rear or side garages, if that is really what you’re after. Or you can get something that is luxurious or made with great features if it is going to be built on a lake.

Want a bungalow or an option that has a Mediterranean feel to it? From 2-family to contemporary or corner lot, we’ll help you find the option that is right for you. If you’ve got a long plot, you will also want a long narrow design. There are even L-shaped homes for narrow plots or ones that work great when you have lots of waterfront.

Good luck with your project, and happy browsing!