Simon Storey (Anonymous) wanted to buy an affordable home so he bought the smallest and cheapest thing on the market. It was just 350 square feet and Storey wanted to fit both his home and office there so he requested special planning permission to double the height.

He has now squeezed 960 square feet on his 780 square foot lot (garage included) and has one of Los Angeles’ skinniest homes. Storey calls it the Eel’s Nest in reference to the super narrow lots in Japan (between 5 and 15 feet).

Storey kept the design a simple stack of boxes that reach the property line on three sides. Inside, he left it as open as possible, using small tricks to maximize space, like a sunken kitchen (that helps to define spaces) and floating stairs (that double as a light well).

Most of the furniture was hand-crafted by Storey, including wooden speakers. He has plans to outfit his dining table with wheels so he can make space for dinner parties by wheeling it out to his small backyard deck.

* Filmed by Johnny Sanphillippo, owner of a small, mortgage-free home. He also films for the site Strong Towns.