In order to be considered an island in this region, land must be larger than one square foot, it must remain above the water level year round, and it must sustain at least one tree. Welcome to Just Room Enough Island.
Part of the 2,000-isle-strong Thousand Islands chain in New York, this tiny land mass meets the official criteria. It was purchased in the 1950s by the Sizeland family who were looking to create a holiday getaway.
They built the walls right up to the edges of the island, giving the island its quirky name. A pair of bench chairs were placed in front of the home and there was also a tree growing on one side. And that is all the room the island had.
While the Sizelands had hoped for their quirky little getaway to be a nice respite from the hustle and bustle of city life, it soon attracted hordes of sightseers and tourists who broke their placid solitude.
When islands get really small they sometimes barely even count as islands, and so some places actually have criteria that the landforms must meet to be officially considered islands, and not just crappy little scraps of land. Just Room Enough Island meets these standards just barely, but really it’s more house than island.
“just when i thought there wasn’t room enough
for another thought in my head,
i had this great idea -“
-john ashberry
—
credit: atlas obscura
Wow very interesting! Thanks for sharing 😊
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my pleasure – i love to find things to learn about and to share –
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😊😊✌️
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What a cool getaway. Wonder where the Sizeland family will park the car;)
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it is – as to the car…..)
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Well the Sizelands sized up that piece of land very well; cute and quaint.
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they did – isn’t their name a bit ironic ?
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Sure is.
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So cool. I would love to live there
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It would be a nice respite
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Indeed
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Pretty easy to take an after-dinner dip in the St. Lawrence River, Beth! That’s a very cool Thousand Island right there.
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🏊🏽♀️
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I hope the Sizeland family bought flood insurance. Come to think of it, if I were an insurance company I wouldn’t sell anyone insurance on water-bound land of such a small size.
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By the way, at the Texas Book Festival last month we attended a talk by one of the authors of Atlas Obscura.
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One of my favs – it must have been great
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Some months earlier we’d seen the same woman on BookTV, so we knew what to expect.
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cool –
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Ha!
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I’m torn somewhere between loving that island/house and deep seated anxiety about it.
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Maybe just a day visit)
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Cozy
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yes, an understatement )
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Love it
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me too )
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I’ll take it!
>
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i’ll share the other half of it with you, or we could take turns on the island
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I hope no one in the family walks in their sleep…
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oops! splash –
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very simply interesting, creative,so much to learn from the title!!
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always something to learn )
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An interesting find and the family name Sizeland is interesting too. The Sizelands made their house on the island just the right size. It does look precarious though. 🙂
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yes, their name seems preordained it sounds like they use it as a getaway, so a matter of timing and luck with good weather –
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Love this! I fancy living there right now 🙂
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it does look pretty sweet –
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Delightful.
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it is a gem –
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Now that’s something…
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not too far and could be your zen place –
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Delightful!
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Such a cool story! Thanks for sharing it, Beth!
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happy to, leslie –
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Wow. Must like privacy. 🙂
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Yes )
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