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			</div><p>Alexandria Spite House, also known as Hollensbury Spite House, is a 7-foot-wide house located at 523 Queen Street in Alexandria, Virginia. It is believed to be one of the skinniest houses in the United States of America and has even been featured on the Oprah Winfrey Show.</p>
<p><img class="aligncenter wp-image-3737" src="http://houseandhistory.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/Alexandria-Spite-House.jpeg" alt="Alexandria Spite House" width="950" height="712" /></p>
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<h2 style="text-align: center;">The History Of The Alexandria Spite House</h2>
<p>John Hollensbury was a council member in Alexandria, Virginia, who lived in a house on Queen Street (next door to what is now the Alexandria Spite House) that had been built in 1780.</p>
<p>How the Alexandria Spirte House came into existence isn&#8217;t documented, however, there are three stories on how this house came to be&#8230;</p>
<p><img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-3792" src="http://houseandhistory.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/Old-Alexandria-Spite-House.jpg" alt="Old Alexandria Spite House" width="640" height="687" /></p>
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<p><strong>The first story </strong>(and most popular), is the Hollensbury Spite House was built because John Hollesnbury grew tired of people loitering in the alley next to his house as well as horse-drawn cottages scraping along his house exterior.</p>
<p><strong>The second story</strong> is that the Alexandria Spite House was built because John fell out with his neighbor across the alley as it was his horse and carriage that kept damaging his exterior wall.</p>
<p><strong>The third story</strong> is that John Hollensbury built the house as a kind of playhouse for Julia and Harriett, his two daughters, and that one eventually lived there as an adult.</p>
<p>While it is fair to say the first story is the most popular, and probably the most likely, we will likely never have definitive proof of why the Hollensbury Spite House came into existence. What we do know, is that in 1830, John Hollensbury paid $45.65 for the lot and built the 7-foot wide, 25-foot deep house.</p>
<h2 style="text-align: center;">The Hollensbury Spite House In Recent Years</h2>
<p>In 1990, businessman Jack Sammis, who grew up in a narrow rowhouse in Baltimore, Maryland, saw the listing for the Alexandria Spite House. It was the first time in twenty-five years that the home had been on the market, and was listed at $130,000.</p>
<p>Sammis bought the property but was unsure what to do with it, stating: <em><strong>&#8220;I knew I wouldn&#8217;t live in it full time. It just seemed like too good of an opportunity to pass up.&#8221;</strong></em></p>
<p><img class="aligncenter wp-image-3784" src="http://houseandhistory.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/John-Hollensbury-Spite-House.jpg" alt="John Hollensbury Spite House" width="598" height="800" /></p>
<p>Sammis hired an interior designer to redesign the rear patio area as well as the interior of the property. The heating and cooling systems were moved into the attic, while the water heater was moved from the kitchen to an upstairs closet.</p>
<p>In 2008, Jack Sammis&#8217;s wife, Colleen, stated that they were using the house mostly at weekends while his primary residence was in nearby Arlington.</p>
<div id="attachment_3787" style="width: 610px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img aria-describedby="caption-attachment-3787" class="wp-image-3787 size-full" src="http://houseandhistory.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/Alexandria-Spite-House-Interior.jpg" alt="Alexandria Spite House Interior" width="600" height="400" /><p id="caption-attachment-3787" class="wp-caption-text">Photo Credit: <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/29/travel/escapes/29away.html">New York Times</a></p></div>
<div id="attachment_3785" style="width: 343px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img aria-describedby="caption-attachment-3785" class="wp-image-3785 size-full" src="http://houseandhistory.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/Alexandria-Spite-House-Interior-2.jpg" alt="Alexandria Spite House Interior 2" width="333" height="500" /><p id="caption-attachment-3785" class="wp-caption-text">Photo Credit: <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/29/travel/escapes/29away.html">New York Times</a></p></div>
<p><img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-3786" src="http://houseandhistory.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/Alexandria-Spite-House-Interior-3.jpg" alt="Alexandria Spite House Interior 3" width="333" height="500" /></p>
<p>In recent years the property has featured on The Oprah Winfrey Show, CBS News, Bloomberg News, and The Guardian.</p>
<p>If you like the Alexandria Spite House, check out the <a href="http://houseandhistory.com/smallest-house-in-britain/">smallest house in Britain</a>, which is just 72-inches wide!