Spite Houses

Do you do things out of spite or meanness? Barbie doesn't. She rarely has a moments peace to herself so her bad manners are simply that. So very often she apologizes for doing something that another may say they've forgotten because it's the right thing to do.

Sometimes people do the wrong thing instead... Even in architecture people create things or keep things around to be mean or spiteful. Spite houses are dream houses created out of meanness to others and examplify some beautiful architecture.  

Spite Houses

Old Spite House of Marblehead, Massachusetts

Some say the 10-foot-wide extension of this 300-year-old house in Marblehead, Massachusetts belonged to two brothers who didn’t get along. They occupied different parts of the house, and the structure was built by one to block the view of the other. Others say it was built to block the view from a nearby tavern. 

Gay Pride Flag Spite House Across from the Westboro Baptist Church

The house across the street from the Westboro Baptist Church compound is now one big gay pride flag & not exactly a welcome sight for members of the church, who are known for their virulently anti-gay views and for picketing military funeral

Pie-Shaped Montlake Spite House, Seattle

Measuring just 55 inches across its narrowest point, this wacky pie-shaped house was reputedly built to cut off a larger home from the street. According to local legend, a neighbor approached the owner of the land to purchase the plot in 1925, but at an insultingly low price, spurring the owner to build the in retaliation. 

Cambridge Spite House

In 1908, landowner Francis O’Reilly was upset when the owner of an adjacent plot refused to buy his property for a reasonable price, so his response was to build a house measuring eight feet wide. Measuring just 308 square feet.

Hollensbury Spite House, Alexandria, Virginia

John Hollensbury, the owner of the white and red houses pictured, was sick of loiterers hanging out in the alley. So he built the house, a 7-foot-wide, 25-foot-deep dwelling in the Old Town district in Alexandria, Virginia

Would you live in a dream house constructed out of spite? 

Barbie might?

Enjoy!

Kisses, m.