From Old Town Grudge Break to New Mutiny: Alexandria Spite Houses

By Angela H. Eng, Offbeat NOVA

Have you ever done something out of sheer spite? 
If the answer is yes, have you ever taken it to the next level? 
Like building a house?

A “spite house” is built with the intention of irritating a neighbor or as an act of revenge against another landowner.¹ You’d think these sorts of houses would be rare, but it turns out there’s a lot of spite going around—especially in Old Town Alexandria, which has not one but four spite houses.

Not to burst anyone’s bubble, but these spite houses actually have another name: alley houses. As Alexandria Living points out, a lot of these “spite houses” are actually alley houses. Alley houses were built between two existing structures in an alleyway. In fact, “an alley house would have been a cheap way to build, since the owner would only have to construct the rear and front walls and a roof.”² 

We stumbled on a 2018 blog post that not only highlighted the famous spite house on Queen Street, but three more alley houses that were hidden in plain sight. Built out of spite or not, they sounded interesting. So we decided to check them out. 

1. 523 Queen Street (Map)

By far the most famous of the spite houses, 523 Queen Street has the distinction of not being the narrowest spite house in Alexandria; it is the narrowest house in America, period.³ Prior to the home’s construction, there was an alleyway between the two houses. However, as the story goes, the owner of the homes, a Mr. John Hollensbury, was tired of the riffraff hanging out in the alleyway and the oversized carriages leaving gouge marks in the buildings when they tried to squeeze though.⁴ So, to keep people out, he put brick walls up and a roof over the alleyway. Though this version of the events is probably the most well-known, a couple of local bloggers did a wonderful job of researching the three different stories they’ve heard. Supposedly, however, you can still see the pockmarks from those wagon wheels on the walls in the living room.⁵

The Old Town Home bloggers actually visited the home and measured the width with a laser. The width came in at 7 feet, 6 inches.⁶ Absolutely tiny. If you Google the home, you can find photos of people standing in front, their arms stretched wide to show just how small the home is. According to Realtor.com, it is only 480 square feet and has one bathroom. It was last sold for $130,000 in 1990 and currently has an estimated value of $579,400.

2. 205 King Street (Map)

This home is what the Old Town bloggers believe is the oldest. In their research, they found that it was constructed sometime in the late 1700s or early 1800s.⁷ It is now not a residence, but the She’s Unique jewelry and gift shop. It was measured as 11 feet, 9 inches—the biggest of the Alexandria alley houses.⁸

The business has favorable reviews, with one saying, “I love this store! They have some really nice pieces and great design. The staff is very friendly and it’s a cute little shop.”

3. 1401 Prince Street (Map)

We had to backtrack a little bit to find this one. It’s possible I was just distracted because it’s so close to my favorite yarn shop, or it just blended into the homes around it. This house is the only one story dwelling of all the Alexandria alley houses, and is described as a “mini-me” of the surrounding buildings.⁹ The Old Town Home bloggers didn’t dig much up on it, only that it might have been built sometime in the early 1900s and it may have been absorbed into an adjoining home. Another source, after consulting Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps, states that it was built between 1891 and 1895.¹⁰ The bloggers measured it at 8 feet, 2 inches wide.¹¹ 

Even though this home is the newest of the alley homes, apparently the late 1800s was a common time alley houses were built.¹²

4. 403 Prince Street (Map)

The last home we visited, at 403 Prince Street, was a pretty brick home that stood out from the ones on either side. Supposedly built around 1800, Realtor.com lists this home as 608 square feet, with 1.5 bathrooms. It was last sold for $424,000 in 2016 and currently has an estimated value of $618,600. It was measured at 7 feet, 9 inches.¹³ By comparison to the Queen Street home, it is only a matter of inches—but it has at least  more square feet and an extra half bath. 

Apparently, it is also well known for its holiday decorations.

So what do you think? 

Could you build and live in a tiny home out of spite? 

Footnotes:

1. Samantha Grindell, “10 unique homes that were built just to annoy people,” Insider, Nov. 10, 2019. Accessed February 20, 2021, LINK.
2. Sara Dingmann, “The Other Three ‘Spite’ Houses in Alexandria,” Alexandria Living, Oct. 8, 2020. Accessed February 20, 2021, LINK.
3. Meghan Overdeep, “You Can Find America’s Skinniest Home in this Charming Southern City,” Southern Living, April 2, 2018. Accessed February 20, 2021, LINK.
4. Overdeep, “Skinniest Home.”
5. Overdeep, “Skinniest Home.”
6. Alex Santantonio, “Which of Old Town Alexandria’s Spite Houses is the Narrowest? It’s a Game of Inches!” Old Town Home Blog, February 23, 2018. Accessed Feb. 13, 2021, LINK.
7. Santantonio, “Game of Inches.” 
8. Santantonio, “Game of Inches.” 
9. Santantonio, “Game of Inches.” 
10. Dingmann, “The Other Three.”
11. Santantonio, “Game of Inches.” 
12. Dingmann, “The Other Three.”
13. Santantonio, “Game of Inches.”