Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1897-07-16
ONLY AZ INCHES WIDE.
NarroWext House In the World, and
known as the ssSpite IIousc.o

tiiC u'tccIcSI uNclliiS liOuSc III ANtN
York, if not in the world, is known n.
the "Spite-house." 1t is so called be.
cause it was built to spite the next dool
neighbor. 1t is only 42 inches wide
on the inside, and it has four stories
Yet it contains two families who live
happily and apparently comfortably.
The "spite house" is located at the
corner of Eighty-second street and
Lexington avenue. The owner, who
was recently interviewed by a World
reporter, is Joseph Richardson, re-
tired business man, who is worth a
million. In some way twelve years
ago piece of land feet by 100 feet,
and fronting on Eighty-sccond street,
was sliced off and left without appar-
ent use. The land happened to be-
long to Richardson.
For several years he had small
truck garden cultivated there. Finally
w. \. Andrews, who owned the adj
joining lot, made an offer for the land
A haggle about the price ensued. Mr..
Richardson named $1,000 as his low
est figure; Mr.. Andrews offered but
$1,000. Each thought the other was
blufiing, and ultimately would give in.
Mr.. Andrews fancied that on account
of the dimensions of the lot it could
be of no practical value to Mr.. Rich
ardson. Mr.. Richardson, however,
knew that Mr.. Andrews was going to
erect series of apartments and that
the corner would render them more
desirable and valuable by making a
solid row, not disfigured by any other
structure.
The apartment structure five stories
high soon became a brick-and-stone
reality. Mr.. Richardson watched the
progress Of the building with interest.
He asked himself how he should get
even, and the answer was not long in
coming. At last the work on the flats
reached the final stage of completion,
and after the decorators had finished
their work several families moved in.
They were real nice people, but that
did not worry Mr.. Richardson in his
scheme for revenge. He erected q
stable on the lot. 1t was not big
stable, but it was stable with the
disagreeable features of all stables.
Finally Mr.. Richardson removed the
stable, although the reason for this
was never made known. Mr.. Rich
ardson, it seems, had another idea.
He was going to build a four-story
flat-house on his little six-foot lot.
In course of time it was completed,
but long before this facetious neigh
Dor dubbed it the "Spite-house," and
the name stuck. In fact it is so re-
ferred to to day by every one in the
locality.
In appearance the structure is a
puzzle. 1t seems to be an addition to
the adjoining house, though close
inspection disproves this. The law
requires that an air space must be left
between two buildings, and the dis
tance in this instance is meagre six
inches, sufficient to comply with the
law, but not enough to admit surplus
either of light or air. Evidently Mr..
Richardson did not wish to give his
neighbors an oversupply of either.
What appears to be the main part
of the building is 66 inches wide from
outer edge to outer edge. The walls
are each IL inches, which leaves an in.
side available space of 42 inches.
Notwithstanding the fact that the
building is four stories high, only two
families can occupy it, and both en-
frances are on Lexington avenue, the
numbers being 1916 and 1918.
Two large bay windows are in each
apartment. These measure three feet
from the outside of the 32-inch hall
to the center edge, and constitute the
living space in the house. In these
alcoves or rooms the sleeping apart
ments are located, and the narrowest
of single cots are, OF course, a neces-
sity. 1t would be absolutely out of
the question to put up an ordinary
double bed there, there is neither a
door nor other entrance large enough
to admit, nor is there space enough in
the interior.
In walking through the halls, a
stout person is obliged to walk side
ways. Mr.. Richardson and his family
occupy one of the apartments and
the second is rented. The stairs in
the house are marvels in their way.
The steps are hardly large enough to
hold a good-sized foot, and they run
almost straight up in a spiral. 1t
would be impossible to built them
lengthwise.
1t is in the neighborhood that the
"Spite-house" is an object of great
curiosity. In the summer it is more
an object of interest to pleasure seek
ers, and is pointed out to visitors as a
conclusive fact that it takes many
odd and curious people and things to
make huge cosmopolitan metropolis
ALL the human beings that evel