This Architect’s Own Home Has Three Bedrooms And Not A Single Hallway

by Erin Miller on November 4, 2026
A minimalist white house in Prague photographed at dusk, with vertical aluminum siding and a large glass opening revealing the concrete interior, steel staircase, and dining area. Red outdoor chairs add color to the garden patio.

When architect Jan Jakub Tesar of Stempel & Tesar architekti designed his own family home in Prague, he took on a plot that had long been seen as too difficult to build on. The result is a compact, three-bedroom house, where rooms are arranged at different heights and connected by a steel staircase, eliminating the need for hallways.

A Difficult Plot Shapes the House

The property sits between villas and apartment buildings, close to a railway line. Previously occupied by three rusting garages, the site presented several challenges, including the need to limit shading of neighboring properties, follow the street boundary, and preserve an existing cherry tree.

These restrictions influenced the building’s unusual shape, with different sections rising to varying heights to accommodate the surrounding properties. From the street, the simple white exterior gives little indication that a complete three-bedroom family home is tucked inside.

A modern three-story house clad in white ribbed aluminum, with a stepped exterior, rectangular windows, and matching metal fencing. The compact design occupies a narrow urban site in Prague.
A minimalist white house surrounded by garden planting and a mature tree. The angular building features vertical metal siding, narrow windows, and an outdoor seating area beside the garden-facing glass opening.

A Steel Staircase Connects Every Level

Instead of conventional floors joined by hallways, the architect arranged the rooms at staggered heights, with each one accessible from a landing on the steel staircase. This allows the house to accommodate three bedrooms and its shared living spaces without dedicating valuable floor area to corridors.

An architectural section drawing of a compact family home showing staggered floor levels, a central staircase, and a sunken living area. The unusual arrangement connects rooms at different heights without conventional hallways.

The dining room sits at the center of this arrangement. With a ceiling rising 13 feet (4.2m) and natural light entering from three directions, it creates a surprisingly open space within the small footprint. The staircase moves through the surrounding levels, making it possible to see how the different parts of the house fit together.

A double-height dining area with exposed concrete walls, a round wooden dining table, black chairs, and a sculptural white pendant light. A black steel staircase connects the different levels of this modern family home.
An industrial-style steel staircase with open metal steps and slender railings inside a minimalist concrete home. Colorful contemporary artwork and a walnut wall add contrast to the exposed concrete.

A Sunken Living Room Makes Use of the Lower Level

Adjoining the dining room is a sunken living area with an angled shape, built-in seating, and a library. Lowering this part of the house was also a practical decision. It allowed the architect to keep the building’s height down along the street while following the property’s boundary.

A modern sunken living room with exposed concrete walls, a white sectional sofa, black lounge chairs, and wall-mounted bookshelves. Built-in walnut storage and steps separate the seating area from the raised floor above.

The change in floor height creates a natural separation between the living and dining areas without requiring a wall. Walnut steps connect the two spaces, while built-in storage runs along the edge of the raised dining platform.

A split-level living and dining area with a black steel staircase, exposed concrete walls, and integrated walnut storage. Wooden steps connect the sunken living room to the raised dining space.
A minimalist dining room featuring a round wooden table, black cantilever chairs, walnut doors, and a layered white pendant light. Built-in wooden steps lead up from the lower living area, while a large window overlooks the garden.

Exposed Concrete and Walnut Define the Interior

The home’s staggered floors and partially underground spaces influenced the choice of reinforced concrete for its structure. The concrete walls and ceilings remain exposed, with the lines left by the construction formwork visible throughout.

Built-in furniture plays an important role in organizing the interior. Walnut from a single tree trunk was used for cabinetry, sliding doors, storage, and steps, bringing a consistent material into different parts of the house.

The kitchen is arranged along two facing walls, with walnut cabinets and a dark Nero Zimbabwe stone countertop.

A narrow modern galley kitchen with walnut cabinetry on both sides, dark Nero Zimbabwe stone countertops, and an exposed concrete ceiling. Integrated appliances and a full-height glass door complete the minimalist design.

In the bedrooms, white lacquered cabinetry provides a simpler finish against the exposed concrete, keeping the compact rooms visually uncluttered.

A minimalist bedroom with exposed concrete walls, white built-in wardrobes, and a simple white bed. A wide horizontal window frames the trees outside and brings natural light into the compact room.
A detail of minimalist bedroom storage featuring floor-to-ceiling white cabinets beside an exposed concrete wall. Sunlight entering through the window creates a diagonal shadow across the cabinetry.

A White Metal Exterior Opens Toward the Garden

The outside of the house has a very different appearance from its concrete interior. White profiled aluminum sheets cover the building, including the gate and sections of fencing. The vertical ribs give the surfaces a subtle texture, while the consistent finish makes the different building heights appear as one composition.

A modern white house exterior with vertically ribbed aluminum cladding and a large rectangular window. The simple facade emphasizes the texture of the metal siding and the building's geometric form.

On the garden side, a large sliding glass opening connects the dining room with an outdoor seating area. When opened, almost an entire wall of the dining space gives way to the garden, allowing the interior to extend outdoors.

The garden-facing exterior of a minimalist white house, featuring vertical metal siding and a large sliding glass opening. A small patio with a round white table and red chairs sits directly outside the dining room.
A view from the steel staircase looking down into a double-height dining room with a wooden table and white pendant lighting. A large glass opening overlooks a patio with red chairs and the surrounding garden.

The house also incorporates triple-pane windows, an air-to-water heat pump, underfloor heating, controlled ventilation, and photovoltaic panels. Rainwater is collected for irrigating the garden and green roof.

An aerial photograph of a compact modern house in Prague showing its flat roof, photovoltaic panels, and planted roof area. The overhead view reveals how the white building fits among neighboring properties and mature trees.

After 25 years of designing homes for other people, Tesar has created a house for his own family where every available level serves a purpose. The absence of hallways is only part of the story. By changing the heights of the rooms and using the staircase to connect them, he has made a three-bedroom family home possible on a plot that once seemed unsuitable for one.

Photographer: Filip Slapal | Design: Stempel & Tesar architekti | Team: Jan Jakub Tesar and Jan Stempel