The minuscule home was built in the 16th century and remained in use until 1900, when the tenant was a 6-foot-3-inch (1.91 m) fisherman named Robert Jones.[1] The rooms were too small for him to stand up in fully and he was eventually forced to move out when the council declared the house unfit for human habitation, along with a number of properties. The house is owned by the landlord's descendants, the landlord being a man also named Robert Jones, having been passed to female relatives since Robert's sons showed a lack of interest in the business.[citation needed]

After some persuasion by the then editor of the North Wales Weekly News, Roger Dawson (the owner) and the editor toured the United Kingdom in order to declare the house The Smallest House in Great Britain, a status that was later confirmed by the Guinness Book of Records.[2]