Bad relations: a man builds a very narrow building next to his brother's house to spoil his view

by Alison Forde

April 30, 2021

Bad relations: a man builds a very narrow building next to his brother's house to spoil his view
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Family feuds are always very unpleasant to hear about, because they make us understand how wickedness can emerge even between relatives, even among thoe who were once close. Brothers and sisters, for example, have been fighting for centuries over inheritance, unleashing the worst of themselves in the most serious and sad moments, that is, at the death of the parent, where talking about money and inheritance would seem somewhat heartless. There are those who would go so far as to wrong their brother in order to steal victory in the eternal struggle for the inheritance and this is exactly what happened in Boston, Massachusetts, back in 1862, in the middle of the American Civil War. When their father died, two brothers inherited a piece of land and one of them had an enormous house built. The other brother, who had been away fighting in the war, found himself with a rather poor strip of land upon his return, but to spite his brother, he decided to build a tall and narrow building on it. In this way, he would block all the light and the beautiful view from his brother's house.

via Boston Globe

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Instagram / roadtrip_newengland

Instagram / roadtrip_newengland

In the city of Boston there is a strange building, located on the North End Boston, which is called the "Skinny House" - a name given for a very specific reason: the building is just 3 meters wide! A truly unusual home, therefore, in which it also seems very difficult to imagine living. Legend has it that the house was built in 1862, out of spite. It was a simple family feud involving two brothers - a fairly common situation in American history. One of the brothers served during the American Civil War, while the other remained in Boston; on the death of his father, the brother who had not gone to fight had the opportunity to build a beautiful and spacious house on the only piece of land inherited from his parent. When the soldier-brother returned home, he saw with his own eyes the injustice that had been thrust upon him: he had been left with a piece of land so miserable that it would be difficult for anyone to get anything out of it. 

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Instagram / americancastles

Instagram / americancastles

Resentful of his brother's greed, who had not wanted to share the inheritance in equal parts and had not even waited to settle the matter before building, he decided to respond in kind, using the same "weapons". The brother, the inheritor of the lesser part of land, therefore, had a tall and narrow building built on that strip of land, with the sole purpose of blocking the splendid view from his brother's house and forever ruining the light.

It seems difficult to imagine someone living there, but today the house belongs to a private individual who was willing to pay the sum of $900,000 to buy it! Those lucky enough to see its interiors comment on how much more spacious it seemed than expected; divided into floors, it looks like this: on the first floor we find the kitchen and the dining area, on the second there is the living room with the bathroom, while on the third and fourth floors there are bedrooms.

 

Some tourists posing in front of the Skinny House make clear the size of the building

Some tourists posing in front of the Skinny House make clear the size of the building

Instagram / honney_potter

 How is it possible that hatred between brothers or sisters can give rise to such spite?

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