The ultimate way to show your contempt for an enemy may be by building a "spite house."
Spite houses are homes built to annoy the neighbors, often by cutting off access to a road or obstructing their views. "They probably wouldn't get much attention if they looked like normal houses, but spite houses have a reputation for being kind of odd looking, since they're usually built on narrow parcels of land," columnist John Kelly wrote in The Washington Post.
Spite houses have a long history in the U.S. — a man reportedly built one in Massachusetts to tick off his brother way back in 1716.
Keep reading to learn about some of the most outrageous spite houses ever built.
The Old Spite House in Massachusetts dates back to 1716.
One of the oldest known spite houses was built in Marblehead, Mass. No one knows for sure why it was built, but theory holds that two brothers who hated each other occupied opposite sides of the home. It still stands today.
Source: Wikimedia Commons
New York's most famous spite house was demolished in 1915.
The Richardson Spite House was built on the Upper East Side of Manhattan in 1882. The owner reportedly built the five-foot-wide building after the owner of an adjacent plot tried to buy the land, and the deal fell through. The narrow building was home to 8 apartment suites, and was demolished in 1915.
The McCobb Spite House stems from a family rivalry.
The McCobb Spite House was built in Phippsburg, Maine in 1806. McCobb thought his mother was trying to deprive him of his inheritance, and planned a home to overshadow hers. The house was later relocated to Rockport and still stands.
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