At just 2.44 metres wide, the Kleine Trippenhuis on Kloveniersburgwal is one of the narrowest houses in Amsterdam. What makes it special is its neighbour across the canal: the Trippenhuis, the widest house in the city, a monumental mansion built in 1662 for the wealthy Trip arms-dealing family. The contrast is deliberate and delightful — stand on the bridge and you can see both at once, the grandest and the most modest houses in Amsterdam facing each other across the water.
The Kleine Trippenhuis is a private residence and cannot be visited, but the exterior and the visual joke are the point. The Trippenhuis opposite (now the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences) is worth admiring too — its Corinthian columns and grand facade stretching across eight window bays.