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And they include America's smallest house, The Spite House in Queen Street, Old Town Alexandria, Virginia. In the modern day, the first instinct in a similar situation might be to complain to the police, your neighborhood listserve, or perhaps pursue legal action. Hollensbury had a refreshing streak of self reliance and simply began bricking off the alleyway in question. Two parallel walls and a roof transformed the former byway into a quaint addition to his personal residence.
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Whichever story is true, the scenario involving a man who built a home out of spite is the one that has made the Hollensbury Spite House a local landmark. It is one of four spite houses in Alexandria, the others being built in the 1800s as well. This kind of structure can be called an alley house or a tiny house, but Hollensbury’s motivations earned it the title of the Spite House. According to Visit Alexandria, it’s the skinniest historic home in the United States — although the recent tiny house movement means that smaller modern homes may be out there. What does the tiny house community have to do with feuds between neighbors?
The Spite House in Alexandria, Virginia
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Hollensbury Spite House In Alexandria Exterior
The second of the potential truths surrounding the construction of this tiny tenement is rooted far more in a neighbor's grudge. Legend has it that Mr. Hollensbury and his neighbor who occupied the home at 521 Queen Street were good friends early on in their relationship. However, as they continued to live next to each other, they began to have more frequent disagreements due to their close proximity to one another. Too large to properly fit in the alley, it frequently scraped the side of Mr. Hollensbury's home, damaging the brick he had worked so hard to make and build into his home. Their neighbor friendship continued to sour until the mid to late 1820s when, due to an unknown dispute, Mr. Hollensbury couldn't take it anymore.
Spite homes are often built as a means to annoy neighbors who may have wronged the homeowner. Spite houses can serve as a block to sunlight or a pretty view, an architectural eye sore, or a mere inconvenience. The Tyler Spite House is not nearly as small as the previous spite houses mentioned here and that’s because its construction wasn’t about views or neighborly disputes. Erected in 1832 by a man named John Tyler, this brick house was born from a property dispute. Legend has it that Tyler constructed the house to thwart the construction of a road that the city planned to build directly through his property. Today, this tiny house stands as an enduring symbol of one man’s determination to assert his property rights in a clever yet terribly spiteful way.
Out of his tremendous spite for these unwanted loiterers and passers by, Mr. Hollensbury constructed the tiny home to thwart the nuisance and provide he and his daughters with a good night's sleep...at last. Mr. Sammis said that the house was in pretty good shape when he bought it, but that he wanted to take it back to a more original look. So a friend, Matt Hannan, who had redone the patio space for him, took on the interior as well, adding period details and highlighting original elements like the brick walls and the wood floors. Mr. Hannan put the heating and cooling system in the tiny attic space and moved the water heater out of the kitchen and into an upstairs closet. Hollensbury’s seat on the Common Council might have given him the audacity to just build it without asking permission.
Many spite houses in existence were built at a time when building codes weren’t as fine-tuned. As historic properties, they are often grandfathered in legally, despite not being up to modern day code. Some cities and counties around the United States are starting to amend their housing codes to accommodate smaller and narrower homes. The narrowest house in North America is the Hollensbury spite house in Alexandria, Virginia, mentioned above.
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The interior of the Georgetown spite house is architecturally historic, with a great deal of charm. The red wood floors, white walls, and charcoal black chimney surround a very open floorplan on the lower level. The house is complete with a kitchen, living room, sun room, and multiple bedrooms. In 1925, another neighborly feud served as the catalyst for the creation of the Montlake spite house. As the story goes, the original owner of the 3,090-square-foot parcel of land that the house was eventually built on was approached by his neighbor who wanted to buy this land. Spite homes are also used as rental properties for tourists, office buildings for companies who want to occupy a small space, coffee shops and bars, accessory dwelling units, and a myriad of other ways.
The Hollensbury Spite House In Recent Years
Alley dwellings were particularly popular in the District, as a result of population density and a need for cheap housing, according to Urban Ecologist. In Alexandria, an alley house would have been a cheap way to build, since the owner would only have to construct the rear and front walls and a roof. This house has become a cultural landmark, attracting visitors intrigued by its peculiar history and architectural design, contributing to the local heritage and tourism appeal of Alexandria, VA. The concept of spite houses dates back centuries, with the earliest known examples tracing back to the 18th and 19th centuries. They emerged as a manifestation of personal disputes and societal tensions, often serving as rebellious statements against prevailing norms.
The final story we've uncovered is one of a much more favorable circumstance surrounding the construction of the humble home. Though not as scandalous as spite inspired construction, I actually like this one the best. Though I've not been able to uncover their exact ages, Mr. Hollensbury had two daughters in the early 19th century. Mr. Hollensbury loved his daughters very much and wanted to spoil them as best he could. As I mentioned, Mr. Hollendbury had success in Alexandria as a brick maker, so he leveraged his profession to spoil his daughters in the best way he knew how.
Born out of anger, revenge, or pure stubbornness the Spite House is a home that was built for no other reason than to spite a neighbor or government that made the owner’s life hell. In 2011, two local bloggers shared another story they heard about the origin of the Spite House. In this telling, Hollensbury, an Alexandria brickmaker, decided to use the bricks he had made in his profession to build his two daughters a small playhouse in the alley next to their home.
In an area where space is a rarity and narrow or small homes are everywhere you turn (our house is only 15' wide), what does is take to claim the "bragging" rights for most miniature maison? Well, it takes some creative use of space and a neighborly grudge, or at least that's one story we've heard. Nearly two centuries later, it’s still an iconic part of Alexandria’s architecture. The Atlas Obscura Podcast is a short, daily celebration of all the world’s strange and wondrous places.
This narrow, bright blue brick home is nestled between two larger brick houses. The home is crested with a silver plaque demonstrating its historical significance, and the windows and doors are trimmed in a light cream and beige hue. Locals and tourists alike know this home is worth visiting when they pass through Alexandria. The lesson of the spite house seems to be, never underestimate a determined property owner.
The Spite House (in blue), built in 1830, is 7 feet wide, about 25 feet deep and a whopping 325 square feet in two stories. It is located on Queen Street in the Old Town district in Alexandria, Va., just across the Potomac from Washington. The Spite House was built in 1830 by John Hollensbury, a city council member and brickmaker who owned the houses either side.
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