I’ll Build a House Just to Piss You Off

by Paul Griffiths in Society, November 9, 2009

Spite Houses are homes built only to annoy an enemy or fulfill a builder’s selfish plan. Read about some famous and extreme examples.

A well-known story occurred in the 1890’s, when an obese reporter showed up at the house in order to interview Richardson. While climbing the stairs, the man became completely jammed between opposite walls. Two residents on either side pushed and pulled at the unfortunate man, but could not free him. Eventually, the reporter came up with the idea of stripping down to his underwear in order to squeeze up the stairway. The experience was claustrophobic and humiliating, but the reporter finally got his interview.

Richardson died in 1897, but his famous house continued to spite Hyman for years afterward. Finally, in 1915, the whole block was bought by a real estate firm and demolished to construct new, more practical buildings.

The Hollensbury Spite House

In the late 1830’s, John Hollensbury was fed up of his neighbor. This jerk would park his oversized carriage in the alleyway between his own house and John’s, and the wheel hubs would scrape annoyingly against John’s wall. To make matters worse, 1830’s style slackers would often loiter in the alley and get up to no good. After a while, John finally bought the land of the alleyway and constructed a 7 foot wide house between his building and that of his neighbor. The house was irrelevant. All that was important was that the alleyway was gone.

The Collinsville Spite House

The Collinsville Spite House, in Collinsville, Connecticut, was a 19th century structure that was only 5 feet wide. The entire building was constructed in a narrow crevice between a butcher shop and a neighbor whom the butcher did not like. The ‘house’ was 2 stories high, with many windows on both sides which were covered by venetian blinds.

This system gave the butcher control over whether his neighbor’s house received sunlight or not. Apart from that, the building had no function whatsoever. After the butcher died, the house was torn down by his son.

The Edleston Spite House

Most spite houses were constructed in the USA, where lax 19th century property laws created a perfect environment for bitter landowners to work their magic. However, one exception occurred in 1904 in Gainford, England. At this time, a man named John Edleston passed away, and his family requested that the Church of St. Marys allow them to bury John in their cemetery. To the Edlestons, this request seemed like a mere formality, as John had been been attending services at St. Marys for 41 years. However, the church denied this request, claiming that the church grounds were full. They then informed the Edlestons that they would overturn their denial if the family donated some land to the church from the empty adjacent plot which they owned.

Angry, the Edlestons refused and built a house on the empty plot. Furthermore, they constructed a large memorial in John’s honor on their own land. This stone structure was 40 feet tall and formed a huge ‘V’ sign (the British equivalent of the middle finger), which was directed towards the church. The house and memorial still stand today.

Spite Houses Today

The concept of spite houses died out after zoning laws were enacted to prevent exactly this type of abuse. Property is also packaged better in the 21st century, so there are fewer places where one can build such strange structures. For example, useless strips of land owned by an eccentric like Joseph Richardson was a more common phenomenon 120 years ago than it is today.

Buildings like the Collinsville Spite House could not be used for anything other than feuding with neighbors. As such, they were doomed once the source of the original anger was gone. However, not all spite houses have been demolished. Those that remain are livable homes and are sources of enjoyment and interest in their communities, an ironic twist given the intent of the original builders.