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All the United States Virginia Alexandria Hollensbury Spite House
AO Edited

Hollensbury Spite House

The narrowest house in America is seven feet of pure spite.

Alexandria, Virginia

Added By
Elliot Carter
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CAPTION
The Hollensbury Spite House   Ian Stedman/CC BY-ND 2.0
The house used to be an alleyway.   Map Data © Google 2018
Spite house.   Ed Moser/Used With Permission
April 2022   hedayat / Atlas Obscura User
The house earned an honorable mention in the Historic American Building Survey circa 1933.   HABS/Public Domain
Street view of spite house.   Map Data © Google 2018
The spite house has always been a point of local interest, shown here circa 1910-1926.   National Photo Company/Public Domain
  Michelle Cassidy / Atlas Obscura User
Hollensbury Spite House   A Bear / Atlas Obscura User
  samanthanichols70 / Atlas Obscura User
🏠🦶🦶🦶🦶🦶🦶🦶🏠   Jason Michael Walker / Atlas Obscura User
Narrowest House in America!   Jason Michael Walker / Atlas Obscura User
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About

Works of architecture are often a portal into the headspace of their creators, speaking a unique language of personality, moods, and obsessions. There are few places where this more visually apparent than at Alexandria, Virginia’s squat blue spite house. The two-century-old residence was a delicious poke in the eye to contemporary neighbors and has now become a beloved part of Old Town’s historic fabric.

The man in question here was a local brickmaker and city council member, John Hollensbury. From his nearby home on Queen Street, Hollensbury had a front row seat to a chaotic alley scene of loitering ruffians and dangerous cut through traffic. By 1830 the side of his home was pockmarked from all the collisions with wagons and Hollensbury decided he’d had enough.

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. Ripley's Believe it or Not dubbed it the narrowest house in America.

It’s unclear if any of this was permitted or legal back in 1830. Hollensbury’s seat on the Common Council might have given him the audacity to just build it without asking permission. However, because of the glorious power of Ex Post Facto law, the spite house has been grandfathered into the modern building code, and is presently occupied part of the year. From inside the living room you can still see the spots where wagons smashed against the brick walls and incited the fury of John Hollenbury.

The Atlas Obscura Podcast is a short, daily celebration of all the world's strange and wondrous places. Check out this episode about spite houses.

Related Tags

Architectural Oddities Houses Miniatures Spite House History Feud Roadside Attractions Architecture Homes

Community Contributors

Added By

Elliot Carter

Edited By

jerradwills, hedayat, samanthanichols70, Michelle Cassidy...

  • jerradwills
  • hedayat
  • samanthanichols70
  • Michelle Cassidy
  • Jason Michael Walker
  • nicoleroberto87
  • A Bear

Published

January 3, 2018

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Sources
  • http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/29/travel/escapes/29away.html
  • https://hookedonhouses.net/2008/03/03/the-spite-house-in-alexandria-virginia/
  • https://www.oldtownhome.com/2011/9/29/In-Spite-of-its-Size-the-Queen-Street-Spite-House-Impresses/
  • https://www.cbsnews.com/media/9-of-the-narrowest-homes-in-the-world/5/
  • https://www.newspapers.com/image/46184580/?terms=%22523%2BQueen%22%2BSt%2BAlexandria%2C%2BVirginia
  • https://www.newspapers.com/image/4176663/?terms=%22523%2BQueen%22%2BSt%2BAlexandria%2C%2BVirginia
  • https://www.newspapers.com/image/187669908/?terms=%22523%2BQueen%22%2BSt%2BAlexandria%2C%2BVirginia
  • https://www.geelongtilerspros.com/
Hollensbury Spite House
523 Queen Street
Alexandria, Virginia
United States
38.807307, -77.045064
Get Directions

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