Freakishly narrow house in Boston was built out of spite. ‘Zillow Gone Wild’ loves it
It may be the narrowest house in Boston, but the story behind this listed $1.2 million home is pretty huge.
The famous “Skinny House” — a two-bedroom, one-bath home that stretches over 1,165-square-feet — happens to be a local legend that has fascinated those who really love a petty story that includes a family feud, stolen money and obstructed city views.
According to multiple outlets including Boston Magazine, the home was built in 1890 by a man with a plan.
After he returned home to Massachusetts from the Civil War, he found his brother had built “a giant house on the shared piece of land they both inherited from their father,” Boston Magazine said. “Annoyed his brother hogged their inheritance while he was literally out risking his life, the man built a home squeezed in between two other properties with the sole intent of blocking the sunlight and harbor views from his brother’s new home. And thus, the ‘Skinny House’ was born.”
The home consists of four stories and, actually has some extremely decent views (does that mean the brother failed at his nefarious plan?). There’s also a roof deck that features hefty eyefuls of the harbor and city.
And just because it’s narrow, that doesn’t mean it doesn’t come with everything inside a normal sized home: a full kitchen with updated appliances, a stone countertop, Juliet balcony facing private gardens, laundry room, full bathroom and more.
The home found its way over to the popular Facebook page “Zillow Gone Wild,” who adored the backstory of a vengeful brother that sounds like the perfect anti-Hallmark movie.
“Spite houses are my favorite,” one fan said.
“I love spite houses,” another said. “That’s the level of petty I hope to achieve.”
“What’s awesome is that the row houses most likely came later,” another fan observed. “Which means the original brother’s house was torn down and the second brother’s home endures.”
“There is nothing I love more than a spite house,” one fan joked.
“I wonder if he left it just a little lower so that he could sit on his deck and wave at his brother,” one person said.
“The story is worth it,” another said.
“Spite house? More like karma house,” one person joked.
“It should be called The House of Petty,” a fan said.
Spite houses aren’t too unusual, but man, they’re fun as heck. Another petty house built with a terrific backstory can be found in Alexandria, Virginia. It’s 7-feet wide, 25-feet deep and 325-square-feet over two stories and was said to be built by a man in order to keep horse-drawn wagons out of his alley, according to SF Gate.
This story was originally published August 11, 2021 at 9:41 AM with the headline "Freakishly narrow house in Boston was built out of spite. ‘Zillow Gone Wild’ loves it."