Have you ever encountered a house that looks like it does not belong there? There are apartment buildings, homes, and commercial structures built out of spite or revenge with a hidden meaning behind each of them. It could also be in the form of protest or to provoke certain people that have done them wrong. These houses are also commonly designed to either obstruct the views of neighbours or serve as a purpose to be an eyesore. Though some of these houses appear to be normal, there is usually a story as to why it exists in the first place.
Here are 4 unique spite houses found on the web that is around the world when human anger turns architectural:
1. The Skinny House (Location: Boston, Massachusetts)
You usually will not encounter a house that is built so narrowly in most neighbourhoods. The hidden meaning behind this house was due to a feud between two brothers. Both inherited the land from their father, who passed away. However, one of them was part of the army during the Civil War, while the other took advantage of that situation and built a house on their inherited land. Once the brother returned, he was outraged. In order to get his revenge, he built a house that is now known as ‘The Skinny House,’ blocking the sunlight and view of the brother’s house. Despite its tiny size, with the use of the circular sander along with other useful tools, this house was constructed and designed to look just like every other normal house.
2. Equality house (Location: Topeka, Kansas)
Situated just across the street at 1200 SW Orleans St in Topeka, you will find a rainbow-coloured house. If you did not already know, the rainbow flag is the official symbol for LGBTQ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer) group. Thus, this house was painted with rainbow colours as a symbol of peace, compassion, and positive change. Though it was not built solely based on anger per se, it was a way of counter-protest to the Westboro Baptist Church, located around the neighbourhood that is anti-LGBTQ. The LGBTQ group regularly hosts events such as drag shows and gay weddings using the lawn just outside of the house to further enrage the anti-LGBTQ neighbours.
3. The Cake House (Location: Gaylordsville, Connecticut)
The Cake House, also referred to as The Gaylordsville Spite House, is built based on stacked boxes resembling a five-tier wedding cake. The history behind the unusual house involves a Polish immigrant named Jan Pol, who built this building as a form of injustice. The News Times reported back in 2009 on how in the early 1960s, the state authorities took custody of his foster daughter, who was a teenager at the time, along with her newborn baby. The state authorities claimed that Pol was the father of his teenage foster daughter’s child, but Pol strongly denies the accusation. To defend himself, Pol self-published a book to deny the false allegations. In the end, there were no criminal charges held against him. To this date, it has been said that no one ever actually lived in the Cake House, and it was solely built out of anger.
4. Plum Island Pink House (Location: Newburyport, Massachusetts)
To some, the Plum Island Pink House built in 1922 would look just like an ordinary house with its exterior painted in pink, while the selected few would find the house a little eerie since it was built in the middle of nowhere. The story behind this house is simply due to a divorce agreement between two individuals. In the agreement, the husband was required to build a house for his wife, which has to be an exact replica of their own home that they shared as a married couple. Funnily enough, the agreement did not state where the home should have been built. Thus, it was constructed in an isolated, secluded area far away from the rest of the town with no neighbours or fresh water available from the taps. It was very cheeky of him to do so, but to this day, no one knows if the wife ever lived in the house. The North Shore magazine reported that several others have lived in the house for years. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) tried to save the house and prevent it from being demolished by the authorities, with the reason being to preserve the history and the hidden meaning behind the house.