Spite house
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
A spite house is a building, generally in an urban environment, constructed because someone the builder feels has wronged him does not want it there. Usually they serve primarily as obstructions, blocking out light or access to neighboring buildings, or as flambouyant symbols of defiance. Because actually inhabiting such structures is usually a secondary goal at most, they often have strange and impractical layouts.
Probably the most famous spite house was in New York City at Lexington Avenue and 43rd street. Built in 1882 and demolished in 1915, it was four stories tall, 104 feet long, and only five feet wide. It was built by Joseph Richardson, the owner of the plot of the same dimensions, after the owner of the adjacent plot, Hyman Sarner, unsuccessfully tried to purchase the land when the two could not agree on a price. Sarner considered the plot useless by itself and offered only $1000, but Richardson demanded $5000. The New York spite house was a functional (if impractical) apartment building, with eight suites each consisting of two rooms and a bath.
[edit] External Links
- http://www.nyc-architecture.com/GON/GON005.htm The story of the New York spite house.
- http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/03/25/AR2006032500903.html A Washington Post article on spite houses.
