7 Houses Built Just to Annoy Someone

February 3, 2009 by uphaa.blog

A spite house is a building generally found in an urban environment which was constructed or modified because the builder felt wronged by someone who did not want it there. Typically built to annoy someone, in most cases a neighbor, these buildings serve primarily as obstructions, blocking out light or access to neighboring buildings, or as flamboyant symbols of defiance.
Because actually inhabiting such structures is usually a secondary goal at most, they often have strange and impractical layouts. Once the reason it was constructed or modified is publicized, locals begin referring to the house or commercial building as a spite house.

In 1874, two brothers in the North End of Boston, Massachusetts got into a dispute.Each had previously inherited land from their deceased father.[15] While the second brother was away serving in the military, the first brother built a large home, leaving the soldier only a shred of property that the first brother felt certain was too tiny to build on.When the soldier returned, he found his inheritance depleted and built a wooden house at 44 Hull St. to spite his brother by blocking the sunlight and ruining his view The outside of the house spans 10.4 feet (3.2 m) and tapers to 9.25 feet (2.82 m) in the rear The Skinny House is still standing and occupied. Source

In 1830, John Hollensbury’s home in Alexandria, Virginia was one of two homes directly bordering an alleyway which received an annoying amount of horse-drawn wagon traffic and loiterers. To prevent people from using the alleyway, Hollensbury constructed a 7-foot (2.1 m) wide, 25-foot (7.6 m) deep, 325-square-foot (30.2 m2), two-story home using the existing brick walls of the adjacent homes for the sides of the new home. The brick walls of the Hollensbury Spite House living room have gouges from wagon-wheel hubs, and the house (blue) is still standing and occupied. Source

At the turn of the 19th century, the city of Alameda, California took a large chunk of Charles Froling’s land away to build a street. Froling had planned to build his dream house on the plot of land he received through inheritance. To spite the city and an unsympathetic neighbor, Froling built a house 10 feet (3.0 m) wide, 54 feet (16 m) long and 20 feet (6.1 m) high on the tiny strip of land left to him. The Alameda Spite House is still standing and occupied. Source

In 1925, a Montlake, Seattle, Washington neighbor made an insultingly low offer for a tiny slice of adjoining land.Out of spite for the low offer, the builder built an 860-square-foot (80 m2) house which blocked the neighbors’ open space The house is 55 inches (1.4 m) wide at the south end, and 15 feet (4.6 m) wide at the north end The Montlake Spite House is still standing and occupied. Source

The story: A man in town had two sons. He left the older son the beautiful 9 fireplace home and left the younger son the adjacent lot and money to build his own home. The younger son was bitter about this and so he purposely built a house which was tall and skinny so that it would block his brother’s view of the Rumford Falls. Source

“According to records, the house was built by Dr. Sam Tyler in 1813. Somehow, the house earned the nickname of the “Spite House” because it prevented the construction of a new street that would allow traffic to proceed straight ahead to West Patrick Street, one of the main thoroughfares of what is now the historical district of the city. Apparently, Dr. Tyler objected to the idea of more noise along his quiet street. He like the idea of a peaceful neighborhood and to further prevent the traffic, and to stop the street from going through next door, he built another house in what would have been a street in 1815. He never lived in this house, but rented it out.”Source

Probably the most famous spite house was the Richardson Spite House in New York City at Lexington Avenue and 82nd street. Built in 1882 and demolished in 1915, it was four stories tall, 104 feet (31.7 m) long, and only five feet (1.5 m) wide. Joseph Richardson, the owner of the plot of the same dimensions, built it after the owner of the adjacent plot, Hyman Sarner, unsuccessfully tried to purchase the land. Sarner considered the plot useless by itself and offered only $1000; Richardson demanded $5000. After the deal fell through, Richardson had an apartment building constructed on his land. It was a functional (albeit impractical) apartment building with eight suites, each consisting of three rooms and a bath.Source