Interview with The Smallest House in Amsterdam

The smallest house in Amsterdam is located at Oude Hoogstraat 22 in the old city center of Amsterdam, next to the Oost-Indisch Huis and the gate to the Walloon Church. The house, by some called the "Smallest house of Europe", is 2.02 meters (6 feet 8 inches) wide and 5 meters (16 feet 5 inches) deep.

1936 to 1962

With its distinctive spout gable, this house represents a miniature version of a typical Amsterdam canal house.

The smallest house in Amsterdam is registered as a national heritage site.

The history of the smallest house in Amsterdam started in 1738. This year, the small house is mentioned for the first time in the city’s archive. 'De Stadt', the municipality of Amsterdam, pays tax for the location where the small house is located. At that time the house had only two floors and an attic. The house has its current shape since 1772. From that moment on people were actually living and sleeping on the top floors and having a shop on the first floor. In the last 3 centuries, many people started their business here, such as clockmakers, tailors, hairdressers, goldsmiths.

2019

1. Your building is simply magical. It is impossible to ask for a more iconic and memorable location for a tea house. Tell us about the history of the Smallest House of Amsterdam.

Since the early 60’s the house is owned by the family. Kirsten’s mother had a luxury gift shop until the late 70’s. Kirsten went to live there herself in the 1990s.

2. How do you recommend one should prepare for a first visit to your tea house?

We do recommend to book in advance through our website. Space is really limited.

3. Your apple pie is famous around the world. Without giving away your secret recipe, can you tell us what makes it so special?

It’s a family recipe. Besides this, we only use local ingredients and the apple pies are always freshly baked every morning.

4. You offer an exquisite selection of teas. Which ones do you recommend your visitors to try?

It depends on what kind of preferences for taste a visitor has. We have a wide selection of more than 150 teas at our disposal. This often leads to choice overload. We have beautiful well balanced single-origin teas from i.e. China, Ruanda, Indonesia, Japan. But we have enough visitors who can appreciate our Amsterdam Earl Grey as well. This tea is milder than a regular Earl Grey and contains less tannine. For people who are more into exotic tea blends, we will recommend our House blend, a white tea blend with almonds, oranges, and cinnamon or our popular organic infusion with ginger, pear, pineapple, and apple.

5. Travelers from every corner of the globe consistently praise the warm and personal treatment by the owners. How do you establish such a connection with your clients and how important is it for you?

We are both people persons. I think we are generally open and honest to our guests. People appreciate this. My late father always told me “Treat a person the way you want to be treated”. That is also our motto.

6. We imagine that many tourists from other countries visit you again whenever they return to Amsterdam. Do you have any memorable story?

A couple of years ago an elderly man entered our shop. In his hands he had a picture of a woman and two children, a boy and a girl, standing in front of the house. The picture itself was taken in 1918. At that time a tobacconist was located in the house. It was called ’Small but brave’. The elderly man explained to us that the people in the picture were his grandmother, father, and aunt. They lived there from 1916 until 1926. In that year the house was declared uninhabitable because of a lack of sanitary facilities. This way the history of the house came alive.

7. What are the keys to success in a business like yours?

It may sound cliche but be honest to yourself, be passionate about your work, sell even and good products, and respect your customers.

8. Do you have any future projects or ideas that you would like to share with us?

In the next coming months, a new collection of tea kits of our own label will arrive in the shop. Our special created iced tea collection and gift packages for Christmas.

Next to the Small House is a well-known icon of Amsterdam, the gateway to the Walloon church. This gate, from 1616 and designed by architect Hendrik de Keyser (1565-1621), used to serve as passage for funeral services

The Smallest House in Amsterdam

Oude Hoogstraat 22, 1012 CE Amsterdam, Netherlands

Tel +31 20 752 7585