Take that! Spite houses are built to offend

SPITE. An ugly word for an ugly desire to hurt, annoy or offend.

In the realm of human relations, spite is abundant, and in neighborhoods, it’s usually obvious. Take the story of a man in Indiana, who was offended when a neighbor told him his house needed painting. So he painted it. Black.

When it comes to houses, spite can go to extremes.

In 1925, in Seattle’s Montlake neighborhood, a landowner became cosmically offended when his neighbor made a low-ball offer on a small parcel of land. The neighbor wanted to garden there. The landowner then built an 860-square-foot, two-story home. At its widest point, it is 15 feet wide. At its smallest point, it is under five feet wide. But the home has two full bedrooms, two living rooms, two baths, a basement, and a tiny kitchen, plus a yard. Today is worth north of $500,000. Take that, cheapskate.

On the other hand, Francis O’Reilly did want his neighbor to buy his little 37-foot strip of land in Cambridge, Mass. When the neighbor refused, O’Reilly built an 8-foot wide, 308-square-foot house that has blocked the neighbor’s view since 1908.

Finally, it’s worth mentioning the famous Boston Spite House, a nasty bit of business. It is said that the house was built after the Civil War when a soldier returned to find that his father had died and his brother had built a large house on the land they had both inherited.

Only a tiny strip remained, but the angry soldier took advantage of it, building a house 10 feet wide and 30 feet deep, right up against the wall of his brother’s house. Today, it is privately owned.

When 10 people occupy the house for a party and one has to use the bathroom, everyone has to move, the owners told Atlas Obscura.