Austin, Texas

Northfield Small Lot Homes

An early Austin infill housing series using narrow shotgun plans, alley-loaded garages, and secondary units to create efficient, marketable housing on very small lots.

Austin small-lot infill home with a narrow plan, traditional front porch, and neighborhood-scale street presence

This group of infill homes used Austin's former Small Lot Amnesty provisions to create compact, marketable housing on unusually small urban parcels. Working with developer David Whitworth of DWD, the projects explored how much livability and flexibility could be achieved within very narrow buildable widths.

The challenge

Some of the primary homes were only about 15 feet wide. The design had to maximize usable area while preserving privacy, outdoor space, parking, a recognizable residential address, and a scale that fit established neighborhoods.

The design

Shotgun-style plans used the narrow width efficiently. Alley-loaded garages kept parking off the street frontage, and secondary living units above some garages added flexibility and additional housing capacity while front porches and simple traditional forms preserved neighborhood character.

Site & planning

This historical case study used Austin’s former Small Lot Amnesty provisions. The transferable lesson is to study the property and its rules together: access, privacy, outdoor space, and housing capacity all shape the design. A new proposal requires a fresh review of the requirements that apply to its own property; these plans do not establish present-day entitlements.

Northfield Small Lot Homes, a narrow home with a traditional street presence

Selected projects

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