8 Subtle Landmarks to Spite

These houses pay tribute to pure human pettiness.

8 Places

Some houses aren’t built to impress. Instead, they’re designed to irritate. So-called “spite houses” are purposefully awkward or impractical—they’re meant to snub a pesky neighbor, or defy an intruding government, or even fan the flames of an ongoing family feud. Today, thanks to modern zoning laws and building codes, coming across a spite house is rare. Those that do exist are strange markers of sheer human stubbornness and ire.

Newbury, Massachusetts

Plum Island Pink House

Local legend says that to spite his ex-wife, a man built this replica of their former home atop an unlivable, isolated salt marsh.

whitneykaharick

Added by whitneykaharick

Beirut, Lebanon

The Grudge (Al Ba’sa)

In the ultimate act of sibling rivalry, one man built this sliver of a building to block his brother’s ocean view.

Added by Ashawnta

Alexandria, Virginia

Hollensbury Spite House

After his house suffered construction damage in the 1830s, a man began bricking up the offending alleyway to create what some claim is the narrowest house in America.

Elliot Carter

Added by Elliot Carter

Seattle, Washington

Montlake Spite House

An angry homeowner constructed this tiny house after his neighbor offended him by asking to grow a garden on the patch of land.

Jake Uitti

Added by Jake Uitti

Boston, Massachusetts

Skinny House

Boston’s thinnest house was built by a Civil War-era man to block sunlight from reaching the large home his brother constructed on land the two inherited from their father.

Cambridge, Massachusetts

O'Reilly Spite House

Francis O’Reilly built this 308-square-foot house after his neighbor refused to buy his small parcel of land.

Rachel

Added by Rachel

Alameda, California

Alameda Spite House

The original owner of this building constructed the house to snub the local government, which had planned to build a street through the lot.

Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina

Sarajevo Spite House

An elderly Bosnian man refused to let the government demolish his house until workers agreed to disassemble and rebuild it brick by brick.

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