There needs to be a call button for 9-1-1 right there.

That's horrendous.

The house would be hard to sell with the stairs like that. There is no room to move furnitures up. Is that a cabin? I saw a homemade castle this year, it had 2 sets of stairs, the 2nd set stairs was in that style. I thought it was cool. What's the style of the house?

Hundreds or thousands of staircases that are single direction winders in houses here. They are treacherous but can't be changed.

These houses sell fast at $300-400K in this neighborhood. The houses that back up to mine have single direction winders that are tighter than these.

One of my criteria was straight stairs. I've fallen down these winders and it's not fun.

Oh palimpsest, I hope there was no broken bones when you fell down the stairs. I fell down the stairs from the deck to the pool, 7-8 stairs (12-15' wide),I stepped on a electric cord I was pulling, landed on my back, couldn't get up or move for 5-10 mins. I have to have phone with me after that. Hope no more falling down the stairs for all of us. :-)

If there were only one set of winder stairs I would think I was back in the Netherlands. The double winders are the most treacherous stairs I've ever seen inside a house YIKES

omg, I've never seen anything like that! I would be very afraid to attempt those stairs -- especially going down.

And they've been that way for 50 + years?

150 plus

MC Escher would be proud. Just a photograph makes me dizzy. I’m already having the stair issue with my bifocals. That might just stop me doing stairs permanently!

Is this narrow winder stairs design a Southern thing? There should be a stairway safety code......

Cook's Kitchen, that's it! just like being trapped in an MC Escher. lol!

ETA: for me it's astigmatism... I lose focus and things look like they're moving or changing position. Add in my slight fear of heights and it might take me a while to navigate those stairs. lol!

"There should be a stairway safety code......"

From 150+ years ago? lol

These stairs remain in many houses because trying to do anything about it would open a can of worms. Some houses have replaced these modern metal spirals which to some extent are worse.

These houses would have to be torn down if the stairs had to be made compliant. These houses are 11 - 13.5 feet wide and 12-15 feet deep. The ones behind me are about 12 x 15 and take up their entire lot. If the house was torn down then the lot would be unbuildable and you would have to combine two lots to build a house.

Lol, I didn't meant 150 years ago. I meant when the houses going through resale now, they'd fail the stairway safety code if there is any......but it's very expensive to fix those stairways..... maybe people who own these stairways should get together for some government grants.....dreaming?

150 years ago people were wearing long dresses, how did they walk through those stairs without falling down??

Oh, I didn't know the houses are small, about 360 sq ft. They must be super cute, I am wondering what they look like. Do you have a picture to share? It's educational for learning about house styles.

Sellers are not required to bring their home "up to code" in order to sell.

If they are otherwise doing work, generally the resultant effort must meet current code.

Thanks for the clarification SaltiDawg.

The red outline comprises one dwelling. The gate at the back indicates how much "yard" came with the house at that time. The large building behind was demolished in the 1960s so these houses got a bit more yard, but an alleyway as seen, or no yard is also common:

Often the third floor has a low ceiling (<6') at one end, too. These are higher, I think.

Those make my 7 3/4 inch steps and 8 inch risers look really good. And just one turn.

palimpsest, thank you for the photo. Now I understand what you meant the size of those houses.