1 00:00:01,320 --> 00:00:04,240 Speaker 1: Welcome to Stuff You Missed in History Class, a production 2 00:00:04,400 --> 00:00:14,000 Speaker 1: of iHeartRadio. Hello, and welcome to the podcast. I'm Holly 3 00:00:14,040 --> 00:00:17,800 Speaker 1: Frye and I'm Tracy V. Wilson. So this episode is 4 00:00:17,840 --> 00:00:21,360 Speaker 1: one hundred percent inspired by Instagram. Yeah, I don't know. 5 00:00:21,520 --> 00:00:27,040 Speaker 1: Do you follow real toor Lisa Dubois. No, she is hilarious. 6 00:00:27,160 --> 00:00:30,360 Speaker 1: She came to a lot of people's attention because she 7 00:00:30,440 --> 00:00:34,560 Speaker 1: started doing this very funny thing where she would show 8 00:00:35,320 --> 00:00:38,879 Speaker 1: a house that she has listed, and she does this 9 00:00:38,920 --> 00:00:41,600 Speaker 1: thing where she whispers and she plays hide and seek 10 00:00:41,640 --> 00:00:43,760 Speaker 1: in the house, and she'd be like, this house has 11 00:00:43,840 --> 00:00:48,120 Speaker 1: amazing has amazing high ceilings and mid century modern architecture. 12 00:00:48,159 --> 00:00:49,800 Speaker 1: Where do you think I might be hiding in this room? 13 00:00:50,440 --> 00:00:53,239 Speaker 1: But she's very funny, and I love her because, in 14 00:00:53,240 --> 00:00:56,000 Speaker 1: addition to being very funny and making those videos which 15 00:00:56,000 --> 00:01:01,440 Speaker 1: are very endearing, as she has gotten more and more popular, 16 00:01:01,640 --> 00:01:06,000 Speaker 1: she's kind of using that platform to also showcase like 17 00:01:06,120 --> 00:01:08,840 Speaker 1: local businesses that she thinks are great or like bring 18 00:01:08,959 --> 00:01:11,640 Speaker 1: light to other things, and they're always really fun and 19 00:01:11,680 --> 00:01:15,080 Speaker 1: she's a delight. But anyway, she recently mentioned a spite 20 00:01:15,160 --> 00:01:18,000 Speaker 1: house in one of her posts, and I got to 21 00:01:18,080 --> 00:01:19,920 Speaker 1: thinking about spite houses, and I was like, why have 22 00:01:20,000 --> 00:01:22,040 Speaker 1: we never done an episode on that? That's super fun? 23 00:01:22,400 --> 00:01:25,399 Speaker 1: So here we are, just in case you don't know 24 00:01:25,440 --> 00:01:28,240 Speaker 1: what a spite house is. It's a structure that's built 25 00:01:28,280 --> 00:01:31,959 Speaker 1: by one party to irritate another or to cause some 26 00:01:32,000 --> 00:01:36,640 Speaker 1: sort of difficulty or obstacle or perhaps even damage. And 27 00:01:36,680 --> 00:01:38,959 Speaker 1: there have been a lot of them built over the years, 28 00:01:39,040 --> 00:01:42,840 Speaker 1: although there aren't a huge number remaining for various reasons. 29 00:01:42,920 --> 00:01:46,280 Speaker 1: One is that many just have fallen down or been 30 00:01:46,280 --> 00:01:49,920 Speaker 1: torn down or been redeveloped over. And another is that 31 00:01:49,960 --> 00:01:52,280 Speaker 1: in some places, the reason you don't see them now 32 00:01:52,960 --> 00:01:55,280 Speaker 1: is that we have a lot more building codes and 33 00:01:56,760 --> 00:01:58,840 Speaker 1: so there are a lot more municipal laws that would 34 00:01:58,840 --> 00:02:04,000 Speaker 1: prevent somebody from building a structure that functions in the 35 00:02:04,000 --> 00:02:06,640 Speaker 1: way some of these do. So today we're only going 36 00:02:06,680 --> 00:02:08,799 Speaker 1: to talk about four of them. All of these are 37 00:02:08,800 --> 00:02:12,480 Speaker 1: in the US, But this could easily be one of 38 00:02:12,480 --> 00:02:16,160 Speaker 1: those topics where there are subsequent episodes, because there are 39 00:02:16,360 --> 00:02:19,200 Speaker 1: a lot more spite houses than this, some of which 40 00:02:19,240 --> 00:02:20,960 Speaker 1: have great stories that I would love to cover at 41 00:02:21,000 --> 00:02:24,040 Speaker 1: some point. So if your favorite isn't here, hold tight, 42 00:02:24,240 --> 00:02:26,720 Speaker 1: it could be in the future. But we're going to 43 00:02:26,800 --> 00:02:30,600 Speaker 1: talk about four today. The first spite house we're talking 44 00:02:30,639 --> 00:02:34,960 Speaker 1: about is the Macob Spite House, originally built in Phippsburg, Maine, 45 00:02:35,240 --> 00:02:38,399 Speaker 1: but now located in Rockport, Maine, and we will get 46 00:02:38,440 --> 00:02:41,920 Speaker 1: to that relocation, but to give context, we have to 47 00:02:41,919 --> 00:02:45,639 Speaker 1: start with a man named James McCobb born in Londonderry, 48 00:02:45,720 --> 00:02:51,040 Speaker 1: Ireland in seventeen ten. In seventeen thirty one, Macob moved 49 00:02:51,080 --> 00:02:54,760 Speaker 1: to Phipsburgh and started what would be a very prosperous life. 50 00:02:55,520 --> 00:02:59,720 Speaker 1: It's not totally clear whether his first wife, Beatrice Rogers, 51 00:02:59,800 --> 00:03:03,000 Speaker 1: came from Ireland with him or if they got married 52 00:03:03,080 --> 00:03:07,720 Speaker 1: in the colonies, but she was also from Ireland. And 53 00:03:07,840 --> 00:03:11,320 Speaker 1: James built a log cabin on land that he had acquired, 54 00:03:11,440 --> 00:03:13,919 Speaker 1: and he and Beatrice lived there for more than three 55 00:03:14,040 --> 00:03:17,959 Speaker 1: decades as he continued to also buy up surrounding land, 56 00:03:18,400 --> 00:03:22,280 Speaker 1: and eventually he owned a large parcel of one thousand acres. 57 00:03:23,040 --> 00:03:25,639 Speaker 1: He made his fortune in the lumber industry as well 58 00:03:25,680 --> 00:03:28,440 Speaker 1: as other business interests, and he was able to support 59 00:03:28,800 --> 00:03:32,600 Speaker 1: a rapidly growing family. He and Beatrice had a reported 60 00:03:32,639 --> 00:03:38,440 Speaker 1: twelve children together. Beatrice died in seventeen seventy two. Two 61 00:03:38,520 --> 00:03:41,840 Speaker 1: years later in seventeen seventy four, James remarried to a 62 00:03:41,880 --> 00:03:46,040 Speaker 1: woman named Hannah Nichols Miller. James built a new home 63 00:03:46,080 --> 00:03:49,880 Speaker 1: for Hannah, a way fancier home than that log cabin. 64 00:03:50,880 --> 00:03:53,400 Speaker 1: This one was a four square, meaning it was two 65 00:03:53,440 --> 00:03:57,920 Speaker 1: stories with four rooms on each level. This upgraded home 66 00:03:58,040 --> 00:04:02,480 Speaker 1: also reflected James's inn increased status in the Phippsburg area. 67 00:04:02,720 --> 00:04:05,400 Speaker 1: He had taken on a role of leadership in the town, 68 00:04:05,880 --> 00:04:08,640 Speaker 1: and as the Revolutionary War broke out, James, at this 69 00:04:08,720 --> 00:04:13,480 Speaker 1: point in his sixties, became head of the Phippsburg Safety Committee. 70 00:04:13,520 --> 00:04:17,000 Speaker 1: Hannah and James had three children, a son named Thomas 71 00:04:17,000 --> 00:04:20,680 Speaker 1: and twin daughters, but Hannah and James were only married 72 00:04:20,720 --> 00:04:24,520 Speaker 1: for five years before Hannah died in seventeen seventy nine, 73 00:04:25,600 --> 00:04:28,800 Speaker 1: James married for a third time. His third wife was 74 00:04:28,880 --> 00:04:32,359 Speaker 1: Mary Langdon Storer Hill, and they got married in seventeen 75 00:04:32,400 --> 00:04:37,120 Speaker 1: eighty two. Mary, like James, had lost two spouses, and 76 00:04:37,160 --> 00:04:39,400 Speaker 1: she was forty eight when she married James, and she 77 00:04:39,480 --> 00:04:43,920 Speaker 1: had three children of her own from previous marriages. Two 78 00:04:44,040 --> 00:04:47,200 Speaker 1: of those children from Mary's first marriage were adults when 79 00:04:47,200 --> 00:04:50,840 Speaker 1: Mary and James got married, but the youngest, Mark Langdon Hill, 80 00:04:51,320 --> 00:04:53,520 Speaker 1: was just ten years old, and so he grew up 81 00:04:53,600 --> 00:04:58,200 Speaker 1: from that point in the Macobb family. James McCobb died 82 00:04:58,320 --> 00:05:01,400 Speaker 1: at the age of seventy eight in seventeen eighty eight. 83 00:05:02,320 --> 00:05:06,039 Speaker 1: Shortly after his death, his son Thomas went to see 84 00:05:06,640 --> 00:05:10,279 Speaker 1: When Thomas returned, he was anticipating that he would take 85 00:05:10,320 --> 00:05:14,320 Speaker 1: possession of his father's house, but he found that things 86 00:05:14,360 --> 00:05:18,480 Speaker 1: had played out much differently. His stepmother Mary and his 87 00:05:18,520 --> 00:05:23,760 Speaker 1: stepbrother Mark were still living in the house. Additionally, Mark 88 00:05:23,839 --> 00:05:29,359 Speaker 1: had married Thomas's sister Mary. It appears that James's third wife, Mary, 89 00:05:29,440 --> 00:05:33,520 Speaker 1: had orchestrated this situation so that her son would legally 90 00:05:33,560 --> 00:05:38,120 Speaker 1: get the house instead of Thomas. The exact legalities of 91 00:05:38,160 --> 00:05:41,760 Speaker 1: this move are a little bit unclear. A nineteen twenty 92 00:05:41,800 --> 00:05:44,279 Speaker 1: five write up of the story in the Portland Press, 93 00:05:44,360 --> 00:05:48,920 Speaker 1: Harold states quote, when James McCobb died, his widow brought 94 00:05:48,960 --> 00:05:52,560 Speaker 1: about a marriage between her son by her first husband 95 00:05:52,640 --> 00:05:56,279 Speaker 1: and a daughter of James macob by his first wife, 96 00:05:56,800 --> 00:06:03,040 Speaker 1: which gave her control of the large and beautiful estate. Obviously, 97 00:06:03,080 --> 00:06:06,400 Speaker 1: this paper a little misinformed about the fact that James 98 00:06:06,440 --> 00:06:10,720 Speaker 1: and Mary were each on their third marriages. Yeah, so 99 00:06:10,760 --> 00:06:13,600 Speaker 1: it remains unclear to me why that would legally cut 100 00:06:13,640 --> 00:06:16,680 Speaker 1: Thomas out of the equation in terms of inheritance. But 101 00:06:17,440 --> 00:06:21,320 Speaker 1: it did, and Thomas was enraged and he hatched a 102 00:06:21,360 --> 00:06:26,359 Speaker 1: revenge plot, probably maybe right next to his family home. 103 00:06:26,440 --> 00:06:29,839 Speaker 1: He wanted to build the biggest, most beautiful house that 104 00:06:29,960 --> 00:06:32,200 Speaker 1: he could, to make that four square house that his 105 00:06:32,240 --> 00:06:35,920 Speaker 1: stepmother had cheated him out of look tiny by comparison. 106 00:06:37,040 --> 00:06:40,359 Speaker 1: And that's perhaps maybe the most interesting part of this 107 00:06:40,400 --> 00:06:44,080 Speaker 1: whole story, because by all accounts, Thomas was not angry 108 00:06:44,560 --> 00:06:49,279 Speaker 1: with his stepbrother Mark. He was irate with his father's widow, Mary. 109 00:06:50,040 --> 00:06:53,200 Speaker 1: Thomas and Mark actually went into business together in seventeen 110 00:06:53,320 --> 00:06:57,240 Speaker 1: ninety six, forming a shipbuilding company called Hill and Macob. 111 00:06:58,480 --> 00:07:01,240 Speaker 1: So there's another twist to this story that Holly didn't 112 00:07:01,279 --> 00:07:05,279 Speaker 1: see mentioned anywhere. It took quite a number of years 113 00:07:05,320 --> 00:07:08,960 Speaker 1: for this spite house to be built. Some accounts say 114 00:07:09,040 --> 00:07:12,360 Speaker 1: Thomas completed his house in eighteen oh six, and the 115 00:07:12,400 --> 00:07:15,400 Speaker 1: others say that he built it in eighteen oh six. 116 00:07:15,440 --> 00:07:19,720 Speaker 1: There's an important distinction there. The house was not done 117 00:07:19,960 --> 00:07:22,800 Speaker 1: until ten years after he and Mark had been in 118 00:07:22,880 --> 00:07:27,720 Speaker 1: business together. And Mary Langdon Hill Macob, that stepmother he 119 00:07:27,880 --> 00:07:31,200 Speaker 1: alleged to have vowed to get revenge on actually died 120 00:07:31,240 --> 00:07:34,920 Speaker 1: in eighteen oh six. Her gravestone lists her death as 121 00:07:34,960 --> 00:07:38,800 Speaker 1: March twenty fourth of that year. Given how difficult it 122 00:07:38,840 --> 00:07:42,000 Speaker 1: would have been to start a major construction project in 123 00:07:42,160 --> 00:07:45,360 Speaker 1: Maine in the winter, it seems likely that Thomas didn't 124 00:07:45,360 --> 00:07:48,600 Speaker 1: even start building this house until after Mary had died. 125 00:07:49,160 --> 00:07:52,000 Speaker 1: If all of that construction took place in eighteen oh six, 126 00:07:53,000 --> 00:07:56,040 Speaker 1: even if it was under construction before that point, it's 127 00:07:56,080 --> 00:07:58,600 Speaker 1: not clear whether she ever would have even seen it 128 00:07:58,840 --> 00:08:02,480 Speaker 1: or appreciated its gale and grandeur. So even if he 129 00:08:02,600 --> 00:08:05,320 Speaker 1: did outdo the home he had lost in terms of 130 00:08:05,360 --> 00:08:08,680 Speaker 1: its size and its style, it might not have been 131 00:08:08,760 --> 00:08:12,480 Speaker 1: Actually despite the deceased Mary, it seems like it might 132 00:08:12,520 --> 00:08:14,560 Speaker 1: not have been a spite house at all. And there's 133 00:08:14,600 --> 00:08:17,200 Speaker 1: also a darker take that knowing about it may have 134 00:08:17,400 --> 00:08:20,160 Speaker 1: been what sent Mary to her end, But we just 135 00:08:20,200 --> 00:08:24,440 Speaker 1: don't really have any confirmation or information on that. It 136 00:08:24,480 --> 00:08:27,080 Speaker 1: is still called a spite house officially, though we'll talk 137 00:08:27,120 --> 00:08:29,880 Speaker 1: about it's sort of official spite house standing in just 138 00:08:29,880 --> 00:08:33,520 Speaker 1: a moment, because obviously Thomas did build his house even 139 00:08:33,559 --> 00:08:36,120 Speaker 1: if he waited for Mary to die, in which case 140 00:08:36,160 --> 00:08:39,000 Speaker 1: it was the most polite spite house, ever, and it 141 00:08:39,160 --> 00:08:43,319 Speaker 1: was as he promised, massive and grand. In a filing 142 00:08:43,360 --> 00:08:46,120 Speaker 1: with the National Park Service from nineteen seventy four, it 143 00:08:46,200 --> 00:08:49,960 Speaker 1: is described as quote a fine example of architecture in 144 00:08:50,040 --> 00:08:54,120 Speaker 1: the Federal style. The house's footprint is an almost square 145 00:08:54,160 --> 00:08:57,600 Speaker 1: rectangle of just under forty five by forty feet or 146 00:08:57,640 --> 00:09:01,200 Speaker 1: fourteen by twelve meters. The front and sides of the 147 00:09:01,240 --> 00:09:04,960 Speaker 1: house each had six windows originally, and one side of 148 00:09:04,960 --> 00:09:07,720 Speaker 1: the house had a duplicate entrance to the front door. 149 00:09:08,520 --> 00:09:11,960 Speaker 1: Thomas macob did not get to enjoy his fine mansion 150 00:09:12,080 --> 00:09:15,080 Speaker 1: for even a decade. In eighteen fifteen, while he was 151 00:09:15,120 --> 00:09:18,880 Speaker 1: serving a term in the Massachusetts legislature as a District 152 00:09:18,880 --> 00:09:24,800 Speaker 1: of Maine representative, Thomas died unexpectedly. He had not gotten married, 153 00:09:25,000 --> 00:09:27,800 Speaker 1: he had no children, so the spite house went to 154 00:09:27,920 --> 00:09:32,160 Speaker 1: the family of his step brother, Mark Langdon Hill, yet 155 00:09:32,200 --> 00:09:34,960 Speaker 1: another way in which his spiite move didn't really play 156 00:09:35,000 --> 00:09:40,120 Speaker 1: out as perhaps intended if this truly was a spiite move. Incidentally, 157 00:09:40,240 --> 00:09:43,640 Speaker 1: Mark Langdon Hill went on to have an illustrious political career, 158 00:09:44,240 --> 00:09:47,520 Speaker 1: serving in Congress on behalf of Massachusetts, then as a 159 00:09:47,559 --> 00:09:52,560 Speaker 1: representative of Maine. Once Maine was separated from Massachusetts and 160 00:09:52,559 --> 00:09:56,760 Speaker 1: became its own state, among other appointments. The Thomas macob 161 00:09:56,840 --> 00:09:59,840 Speaker 1: Spite House has a story that goes beyond its origin 162 00:10:00,040 --> 00:10:03,320 Speaker 1: with the Macob and Hill families, one that Thomas McCobb 163 00:10:03,440 --> 00:10:07,000 Speaker 1: surely did not foresee. The house was sold out of 164 00:10:07,040 --> 00:10:09,760 Speaker 1: the family in the eighteen hundreds, and it changed hands 165 00:10:09,760 --> 00:10:13,040 Speaker 1: a few times. In nineteen fifteen, it was purchased by 166 00:10:13,040 --> 00:10:16,160 Speaker 1: a man named Adelbert Williams, but it was difficult to 167 00:10:16,240 --> 00:10:19,120 Speaker 1: keep up, and in nineteen twenty five it was sold again, 168 00:10:19,720 --> 00:10:23,680 Speaker 1: this time to Donald Dodge, a man from Philadelphia, and 169 00:10:23,760 --> 00:10:26,839 Speaker 1: at that point the house was in pretty rough shape. 170 00:10:27,280 --> 00:10:30,440 Speaker 1: Dodge paid six thousand dollars for the spite House, and 171 00:10:30,520 --> 00:10:32,960 Speaker 1: he spent a lot more to get it just the 172 00:10:32,960 --> 00:10:36,040 Speaker 1: way he liked it and just where he wanted it. 173 00:10:36,760 --> 00:10:39,439 Speaker 1: Dodge didn't want to move to Pipsburg, so he had 174 00:10:39,480 --> 00:10:43,000 Speaker 1: the whole home moved to his summer estate at Rockport. 175 00:10:43,800 --> 00:10:47,080 Speaker 1: Dodge and his moving contractor, Arthur R. Tingley, hired a 176 00:10:47,120 --> 00:10:49,520 Speaker 1: barge from New Jersey to come up to Maine so 177 00:10:49,559 --> 00:10:52,120 Speaker 1: that it could be loaded up with the house and 178 00:10:52,160 --> 00:10:55,400 Speaker 1: carried eighty five miles north along the coast to Rockport. 179 00:10:56,120 --> 00:10:58,640 Speaker 1: In addition to the move, the house got an expansion 180 00:10:58,720 --> 00:11:01,840 Speaker 1: once it got to its final day, yet it had 181 00:11:01,880 --> 00:11:06,080 Speaker 1: two a wing added on on either side. In addition 182 00:11:06,200 --> 00:11:08,800 Speaker 1: to those two new wings, the Macob House also had 183 00:11:08,840 --> 00:11:12,960 Speaker 1: an extensive landscape planned around it, led by landscape architect 184 00:11:13,080 --> 00:11:17,320 Speaker 1: Robert Wheelwright, who created flower gardens in a formal colonial style, 185 00:11:17,679 --> 00:11:20,920 Speaker 1: as well as a gazebo and other outdoor living spaces. 186 00:11:21,720 --> 00:11:25,760 Speaker 1: In twenty eighteen, the Main Historical Society shared information about 187 00:11:25,760 --> 00:11:28,400 Speaker 1: the plants that were kept in those gardens, and that 188 00:11:28,480 --> 00:11:32,240 Speaker 1: information came from correspondence and order forms that Dodge and 189 00:11:32,280 --> 00:11:37,880 Speaker 1: his gardener Henry B. Williams exchanged with various nurseries. One 190 00:11:38,000 --> 00:11:41,800 Speaker 1: set of exchanges in these letters from October nineteen fifty 191 00:11:41,840 --> 00:11:46,120 Speaker 1: four is very cute. Apparently, in a catalog from a 192 00:11:46,200 --> 00:11:49,760 Speaker 1: nursery called Strawberry Hill, the bulbs being sold for the 193 00:11:49,760 --> 00:11:53,120 Speaker 1: lily known as Washington anam was described as being the 194 00:11:53,160 --> 00:11:58,280 Speaker 1: size of a lubberjack's fist. Mister Dodge thought that was inaccurate, 195 00:11:58,320 --> 00:12:01,520 Speaker 1: writing quote, I was particularly interested in the bulb of 196 00:12:01,880 --> 00:12:05,240 Speaker 1: Washington and to see how big is a lumberjacks fist. 197 00:12:05,800 --> 00:12:07,920 Speaker 1: It is a fine bulb, but not up to my 198 00:12:08,040 --> 00:12:11,520 Speaker 1: idea of a Lumberjacks fist. I have bloomed this lily 199 00:12:11,600 --> 00:12:15,440 Speaker 1: here several years and think it is perfectly exquisite. I 200 00:12:15,520 --> 00:12:18,640 Speaker 1: secured some real top forest soil from the base of 201 00:12:18,679 --> 00:12:21,679 Speaker 1: a large oak tree which blew down in a recent hurricane, 202 00:12:21,679 --> 00:12:24,920 Speaker 1: and I am using it around your lilies. So this 203 00:12:24,960 --> 00:12:28,440 Speaker 1: seems like a playful comment and not a real criticism. 204 00:12:29,040 --> 00:12:31,880 Speaker 1: The rest of the letter notes the other plants that 205 00:12:31,920 --> 00:12:34,920 Speaker 1: were received at Rockport and how much Dodge loved them. 206 00:12:35,320 --> 00:12:39,160 Speaker 1: The reply from grower Ad Rothman notes, quote your comment 207 00:12:39,320 --> 00:12:43,920 Speaker 1: on the Washington Anam and the lumberjacks fist was amusing. Remember, sir, 208 00:12:43,960 --> 00:12:47,960 Speaker 1: that nurserymen live drab lives, and their catalogs, with their 209 00:12:48,000 --> 00:12:53,320 Speaker 1: opportunity for nurserymen's pros, are virtually their soul surcease. Not 210 00:12:53,600 --> 00:12:57,080 Speaker 1: necessarily a story that's particularly important to the spite house 211 00:12:57,160 --> 00:12:59,559 Speaker 1: nature of this whole thing, but it was so cute 212 00:12:59,640 --> 00:13:02,600 Speaker 1: that I had to include it. In addition to a 213 00:13:02,640 --> 00:13:05,760 Speaker 1: wide range of lilies which Dodge clearly loved, there were 214 00:13:05,800 --> 00:13:10,800 Speaker 1: also azaleas, Kalmia, rhododendron, Mahonia, and bayberry grown at the house. 215 00:13:10,840 --> 00:13:14,600 Speaker 1: Among others. Some of those gardens and outdoor spaces that 216 00:13:14,640 --> 00:13:18,720 Speaker 1: were so carefully tended remained, but many of the gardens 217 00:13:18,760 --> 00:13:23,040 Speaker 1: were reduced in size or streamlined or eliminated to facilitate 218 00:13:23,120 --> 00:13:26,760 Speaker 1: easier upkeep. That was all done after Dodge died in 219 00:13:26,800 --> 00:13:30,880 Speaker 1: the nineteen seventies. In nineteen sixty, the Thomas mccob's spite 220 00:13:30,920 --> 00:13:34,640 Speaker 1: House was listed on the National Park Service's Historic American 221 00:13:34,679 --> 00:13:37,960 Speaker 1: Building Survey, and then in nineteen seventy four it was 222 00:13:38,000 --> 00:13:42,880 Speaker 1: included on the National Register of Historic Places. The original 223 00:13:43,000 --> 00:13:45,880 Speaker 1: macob House, the one that Thomas thought he was going 224 00:13:45,920 --> 00:13:49,400 Speaker 1: to inherit but did not, still stand today. It's a 225 00:13:49,400 --> 00:13:52,120 Speaker 1: bed and breakfast known as the seventeen seventy four Inn, 226 00:13:52,320 --> 00:13:54,960 Speaker 1: marking the year that it was built. Coming up, we're 227 00:13:54,960 --> 00:13:57,760 Speaker 1: going to talk about a house in California that really 228 00:13:57,960 --> 00:13:59,760 Speaker 1: might not be a spite house, but it sure has 229 00:13:59,800 --> 00:14:03,240 Speaker 1: got a bad reputation as one over the years, thanks 230 00:14:03,240 --> 00:14:05,880 Speaker 1: in part to a newspaper write up that we'll get into. 231 00:14:06,480 --> 00:14:18,160 Speaker 1: We'll do all of that after the sponsor break. This 232 00:14:18,360 --> 00:14:22,200 Speaker 1: next spite house is in Alameda, California, that sits on 233 00:14:22,240 --> 00:14:25,080 Speaker 1: an archipelago west of Oakland, and this is one of 234 00:14:25,120 --> 00:14:28,600 Speaker 1: those instances where there are competing stories about the origin 235 00:14:28,760 --> 00:14:31,640 Speaker 1: of the spite house. So the way this is structured 236 00:14:31,840 --> 00:14:34,440 Speaker 1: is we're gonna walk you through the most common one, 237 00:14:34,520 --> 00:14:37,000 Speaker 1: which is likely not correct, so keep that in mind 238 00:14:37,000 --> 00:14:39,760 Speaker 1: as we talk about it, and then a somewhat tragic 239 00:14:39,800 --> 00:14:42,600 Speaker 1: event related to the house, and then we're gonna rewind 240 00:14:43,120 --> 00:14:46,960 Speaker 1: to a different version of this spite house's origin before 241 00:14:47,000 --> 00:14:50,320 Speaker 1: we land at the account that is possibly the most 242 00:14:50,360 --> 00:14:54,000 Speaker 1: boring and makes the most sense. This one starts with 243 00:14:54,040 --> 00:14:58,040 Speaker 1: a man named Charles Anton Froling. Charles was born in 244 00:14:58,080 --> 00:15:00,440 Speaker 1: eighteen eighty. We don't know a whole lot of about him, 245 00:15:00,440 --> 00:15:03,560 Speaker 1: other than that he was Swedish. Sometimes he said to 246 00:15:03,640 --> 00:15:07,040 Speaker 1: have been a railroad worker, although one obituary states that 247 00:15:07,080 --> 00:15:10,200 Speaker 1: he was a contractor. We know he was married to 248 00:15:10,240 --> 00:15:14,000 Speaker 1: a woman named Gertrude and that couple had two sons, 249 00:15:14,120 --> 00:15:18,680 Speaker 1: Gilbert C. A. Froling and Fred Frolling. I should also 250 00:15:18,760 --> 00:15:22,080 Speaker 1: mention that some accounts say he was a railroad contractor, 251 00:15:22,120 --> 00:15:25,240 Speaker 1: so he was building things for the railroad. Perhaps may 252 00:15:25,320 --> 00:15:28,480 Speaker 1: account for the variations that we see. So the story 253 00:15:28,680 --> 00:15:32,320 Speaker 1: normally goes that in the early nineteen hundreds, Charles inherited 254 00:15:32,320 --> 00:15:36,320 Speaker 1: property on Broadway in Alameda, and he planned to build 255 00:15:36,320 --> 00:15:40,320 Speaker 1: his dream home there, but the city actually took a 256 00:15:40,360 --> 00:15:43,160 Speaker 1: significant slice of his land in order to build a 257 00:15:43,240 --> 00:15:46,920 Speaker 1: cross street that's now christ Street. All that was left 258 00:15:46,920 --> 00:15:49,680 Speaker 1: of Frolling's lot was a ten x fifty four foot 259 00:15:49,720 --> 00:15:53,640 Speaker 1: rectangle that's roughly three by sixteen point five meters, so 260 00:15:53,960 --> 00:15:57,640 Speaker 1: not exactly a huge tract of land and a weird shape, 261 00:15:58,240 --> 00:16:02,320 Speaker 1: and he supposedly asked his neighbor, missus Annette Westerdhal, to 262 00:16:02,440 --> 00:16:04,800 Speaker 1: band with him in fighting the city's plan for a 263 00:16:04,840 --> 00:16:07,120 Speaker 1: cross street, but that she didn't want any part of 264 00:16:07,160 --> 00:16:10,040 Speaker 1: it and perhaps was kind of into the idea of 265 00:16:10,080 --> 00:16:13,480 Speaker 1: her house being at an intersection with a view since 266 00:16:13,560 --> 00:16:17,520 Speaker 1: Frolling's lot would not support construction of a house. So, 267 00:16:17,880 --> 00:16:21,000 Speaker 1: according to this story, Frolling built one anyway just to 268 00:16:21,080 --> 00:16:23,760 Speaker 1: spite her, and built it to take up his entire 269 00:16:23,880 --> 00:16:27,440 Speaker 1: lot twenty feet high, so her view was completely obstructed. 270 00:16:28,480 --> 00:16:32,400 Speaker 1: There is truthfully not just a made up part one 271 00:16:32,480 --> 00:16:36,880 Speaker 1: inch between these two houses. The exterior wall for Froling's 272 00:16:36,920 --> 00:16:40,680 Speaker 1: house that is on that one inch gap had to 273 00:16:40,680 --> 00:16:44,400 Speaker 1: be assembled and painted first, then put into place, and 274 00:16:44,400 --> 00:16:46,920 Speaker 1: then the rest of the house built from there, so 275 00:16:47,040 --> 00:16:50,520 Speaker 1: on the Christ Street side, the second floor overhangs the 276 00:16:50,520 --> 00:16:53,080 Speaker 1: first to be about twelve feet wide, so it has 277 00:16:53,120 --> 00:16:57,480 Speaker 1: a little extra upstairs space. There's a sad development in 278 00:16:57,520 --> 00:17:01,520 Speaker 1: the story and legacy of the Alamitus Bite House, and 279 00:17:01,560 --> 00:17:03,680 Speaker 1: it involves suicide. So if you don't want to hear 280 00:17:03,720 --> 00:17:07,719 Speaker 1: about that, skip forward a couple of minutes. On November twelfth, 281 00:17:07,760 --> 00:17:10,560 Speaker 1: nineteen oh eight, the Oakland Tribune ran a story about 282 00:17:10,560 --> 00:17:13,639 Speaker 1: a death that places the blame for a suicide on 283 00:17:13,800 --> 00:17:16,760 Speaker 1: the Alameda spite House. Right from the headline, which reads 284 00:17:17,280 --> 00:17:19,719 Speaker 1: freak house may have been one of the causes of 285 00:17:19,800 --> 00:17:23,800 Speaker 1: woman taking her life. This article notes that missus Annette 286 00:17:23,800 --> 00:17:28,040 Speaker 1: Westerdaal died quote from inhaling gas with suicidal intent at 287 00:17:28,040 --> 00:17:32,800 Speaker 1: her home thirteen forty five Broadway. The story shared information 288 00:17:32,960 --> 00:17:35,840 Speaker 1: about two notes that were left by missus Westerdahal, one 289 00:17:35,840 --> 00:17:38,280 Speaker 1: to her son in which she thanked him for taking 290 00:17:38,320 --> 00:17:41,719 Speaker 1: care of her and asking to be buried simply, and 291 00:17:41,840 --> 00:17:44,399 Speaker 1: one to her doctor stating that she had wished to 292 00:17:44,440 --> 00:17:47,840 Speaker 1: die and that she was intentionally ending her life. And 293 00:17:47,880 --> 00:17:51,040 Speaker 1: this tragic story mentioned several details of her life that 294 00:17:51,160 --> 00:17:54,600 Speaker 1: may very well have contributed to her mental state, a 295 00:17:54,640 --> 00:17:58,080 Speaker 1: separation from her husband and the recent death of one 296 00:17:58,080 --> 00:18:01,080 Speaker 1: of her adult sons, and that she had recently been 297 00:18:01,119 --> 00:18:04,320 Speaker 1: released from Harrison Sanitarium just a week before her death, 298 00:18:04,560 --> 00:18:08,000 Speaker 1: But those are all mentioned just in passing. This article 299 00:18:08,040 --> 00:18:12,240 Speaker 1: instead makes the spite house the clear villain. The bigger problem, 300 00:18:12,320 --> 00:18:15,040 Speaker 1: according to the paper, was that she had lost income 301 00:18:15,119 --> 00:18:18,280 Speaker 1: from renting her home out to tenants and rumors because 302 00:18:18,280 --> 00:18:21,439 Speaker 1: of what the paper referred to as quote the freak house. 303 00:18:22,080 --> 00:18:25,240 Speaker 1: But Frolling's house would have only just been finished when 304 00:18:25,280 --> 00:18:28,480 Speaker 1: Missus Westerdall died, so it kind of seems like the 305 00:18:28,520 --> 00:18:32,399 Speaker 1: paper is just trying to defame the house. It drives 306 00:18:32,400 --> 00:18:35,280 Speaker 1: this agenda home even in the caption to the photo 307 00:18:35,400 --> 00:18:38,560 Speaker 1: of the Westerdall home, which reads, quote the large house 308 00:18:39,040 --> 00:18:42,520 Speaker 1: is that of the late Missus Westerdall on Broadway, Alameda. 309 00:18:42,560 --> 00:18:45,840 Speaker 1: In the freak house is that of Charles Frolling, which 310 00:18:45,920 --> 00:18:50,280 Speaker 1: may have worried Missus Westerdall to death. And that story 311 00:18:50,640 --> 00:18:54,080 Speaker 1: has some other issues. In a twenty twenty four article 312 00:18:54,160 --> 00:18:57,280 Speaker 1: in The East Bay Times, the home's current owner stated 313 00:18:57,320 --> 00:19:00,439 Speaker 1: that that story was untrue and that the story is 314 00:19:00,480 --> 00:19:02,639 Speaker 1: that there was not a street planned at the time 315 00:19:02,720 --> 00:19:05,919 Speaker 1: but that Frolling did have an agreement with Westerdhal that 316 00:19:06,000 --> 00:19:08,840 Speaker 1: he would buy part of her backyard to enlarge his 317 00:19:09,000 --> 00:19:12,960 Speaker 1: small lot for a house. But then Westerdahal backed out 318 00:19:12,960 --> 00:19:15,879 Speaker 1: of the idea, and that catalyzed the building of the house. 319 00:19:16,920 --> 00:19:21,600 Speaker 1: Perhaps the clearest, most sensible, and least thrilling version of 320 00:19:21,640 --> 00:19:25,240 Speaker 1: the story came from Frolling's son Gilbert, in an interview 321 00:19:25,280 --> 00:19:28,399 Speaker 1: he did with the Oakland Tribune in nineteen fifty seven 322 00:19:28,440 --> 00:19:32,680 Speaker 1: for an article about narrow houses. Gilbert was nine when 323 00:19:32,720 --> 00:19:35,760 Speaker 1: the so called spite House was constructed, and he told 324 00:19:35,800 --> 00:19:39,080 Speaker 1: the Tribune that the odd, narrow lot at the corner 325 00:19:39,119 --> 00:19:42,640 Speaker 1: of Kristin Broadway had been all that his father could afford. 326 00:19:43,359 --> 00:19:46,399 Speaker 1: The lot was cut down because of the Chris Street construction, 327 00:19:46,560 --> 00:19:51,000 Speaker 1: but that had been before the Frollings owned it. Charles had, 328 00:19:51,160 --> 00:19:53,800 Speaker 1: according to his son, the idea that if he and 329 00:19:53,920 --> 00:19:57,560 Speaker 1: missus Westerdaal compromised, she could have the front of his 330 00:19:57,760 --> 00:20:00,560 Speaker 1: lot as a little side yard, he could have the 331 00:20:00,640 --> 00:20:04,080 Speaker 1: back of her lot. That wouldn't change how much square 332 00:20:04,119 --> 00:20:07,120 Speaker 1: footage he had, but it would give him a less 333 00:20:07,320 --> 00:20:12,520 Speaker 1: severe rectangle. But Westerdahl did not go for that idea. 334 00:20:12,640 --> 00:20:16,000 Speaker 1: Still According to Gilbert Building, the house was not an 335 00:20:16,040 --> 00:20:18,719 Speaker 1: active spite at all, but just a matter of his 336 00:20:18,800 --> 00:20:21,960 Speaker 1: father working with what he had. He told the paper 337 00:20:22,080 --> 00:20:25,800 Speaker 1: quote father was a big, easygoing Swede. That was what 338 00:20:25,880 --> 00:20:28,760 Speaker 1: he could afford to build. We were a poor family. 339 00:20:29,640 --> 00:20:32,400 Speaker 1: Everybody had a place to sleep and a bathroom. It's 340 00:20:32,520 --> 00:20:36,080 Speaker 1: just like an ordinary house. The Frolings lived in their 341 00:20:36,200 --> 00:20:40,080 Speaker 1: narrow house for a decade before moving. Charles Froling died 342 00:20:40,119 --> 00:20:43,080 Speaker 1: in nineteen twenty four, and neither of the obituaries that 343 00:20:43,160 --> 00:20:46,920 Speaker 1: I found in research even mentioned the spite house. In 344 00:20:47,119 --> 00:20:50,840 Speaker 1: nineteen fifty seven, the then owner of the house, missus 345 00:20:50,960 --> 00:20:56,560 Speaker 1: Elsie Darcy, who the Tribune described as quote a short, active, 346 00:20:56,640 --> 00:20:59,560 Speaker 1: seventy four year old grandmother who was a cat fancier, 347 00:21:00,359 --> 00:21:02,480 Speaker 1: tried to help out her next door neighbors and have 348 00:21:02,560 --> 00:21:05,600 Speaker 1: the whole house moved. Her intention was that if it 349 00:21:05,640 --> 00:21:08,119 Speaker 1: could be shifted back on the lot a little, it 350 00:21:08,160 --> 00:21:11,479 Speaker 1: would enable the neighbors to get some sunshine views. But 351 00:21:11,560 --> 00:21:13,919 Speaker 1: the city said that was not possible. It was a 352 00:21:13,960 --> 00:21:17,959 Speaker 1: teardown or nothing. That was in part because in nineteen 353 00:21:18,040 --> 00:21:20,800 Speaker 1: thirty eight, the city's building code had been updated in 354 00:21:20,840 --> 00:21:25,280 Speaker 1: ways that would make building such narrow houses illegal. Frowling's 355 00:21:25,320 --> 00:21:28,000 Speaker 1: house was exempt because it was already built before that, 356 00:21:28,080 --> 00:21:30,600 Speaker 1: but it couldn't really be changed under the new codes. 357 00:21:31,480 --> 00:21:34,280 Speaker 1: That house still stands and as of that twenty twenty 358 00:21:34,320 --> 00:21:37,040 Speaker 1: four article, it's had the same owners for more than 359 00:21:37,080 --> 00:21:40,000 Speaker 1: two decades. They love it and told the East Bay 360 00:21:40,000 --> 00:21:42,880 Speaker 1: Times quote, there are people out there laughing, saying, how 361 00:21:42,880 --> 00:21:44,879 Speaker 1: can someone live in there? How do you get a 362 00:21:44,880 --> 00:21:47,200 Speaker 1: bed in there? It must be like living in a car. 363 00:21:47,640 --> 00:21:50,879 Speaker 1: It's not. We have a queen size bed. The ceilings 364 00:21:50,880 --> 00:21:53,800 Speaker 1: are extremely tall. The middle of the house is open 365 00:21:53,840 --> 00:21:57,200 Speaker 1: to the roof. It's a little jewel box. We're going 366 00:21:57,240 --> 00:21:59,280 Speaker 1: to take a break and hear from the sponsors that 367 00:21:59,359 --> 00:22:01,560 Speaker 1: keep the podcast going, and then we will be back 368 00:22:01,840 --> 00:22:14,600 Speaker 1: with two more spite houses. Our next spite house is 369 00:22:14,640 --> 00:22:17,280 Speaker 1: in Frederick, Maryland, and it is the work of doctor 370 00:22:17,359 --> 00:22:21,080 Speaker 1: John Tyler, and this one is a legit spite house. 371 00:22:21,880 --> 00:22:25,239 Speaker 1: Well before the construction of his house, Tyler had made 372 00:22:25,280 --> 00:22:28,800 Speaker 1: a name for himself as an ophthalmologist. He's sometimes said 373 00:22:28,840 --> 00:22:30,879 Speaker 1: to have been the first doctor in the US to 374 00:22:30,920 --> 00:22:34,840 Speaker 1: perform a cataract surgery, but it's really more accurate to 375 00:22:34,880 --> 00:22:37,240 Speaker 1: say he was one of the first doctors doing it. 376 00:22:37,359 --> 00:22:40,920 Speaker 1: That was in the late seventeen hundreds. An important distinction 377 00:22:41,080 --> 00:22:42,800 Speaker 1: made in a write up about the house in the 378 00:22:42,960 --> 00:22:45,280 Speaker 1: La Times in nineteen ninety notes that he was the 379 00:22:45,320 --> 00:22:50,960 Speaker 1: first American born doctor to perform such procedures. Just FYI couching. 380 00:22:51,080 --> 00:22:54,280 Speaker 1: The technique Tyler is said to have used involves piercing 381 00:22:54,320 --> 00:22:56,399 Speaker 1: the eye and then physically moving the lens so that 382 00:22:56,440 --> 00:23:00,680 Speaker 1: the clouded area no longer obscures vision. I tell you now, 383 00:23:00,800 --> 00:23:02,879 Speaker 1: there's a source for it that I don't even have 384 00:23:02,960 --> 00:23:04,960 Speaker 1: in the source list because I couldn't look at that 385 00:23:05,000 --> 00:23:09,600 Speaker 1: page anymore and I ran away. So Holly maybe saying 386 00:23:09,600 --> 00:23:13,640 Speaker 1: that because I visibly winced, I visibly winced. I can 387 00:23:13,680 --> 00:23:17,600 Speaker 1: handle most stuff, but eyeball surgery. I can handle touching 388 00:23:17,640 --> 00:23:20,840 Speaker 1: of the eye, putting in context, but eyeball surgery a 389 00:23:20,840 --> 00:23:23,960 Speaker 1: little squinkiar. But in any case, I just wanted to 390 00:23:24,000 --> 00:23:27,679 Speaker 1: clarify what exactly he was known for. Tyler was, in 391 00:23:27,680 --> 00:23:31,399 Speaker 1: addition to performing this surgery, also a civic and community leader, 392 00:23:31,480 --> 00:23:34,520 Speaker 1: and he had served as a senator. But all of 393 00:23:34,560 --> 00:23:37,800 Speaker 1: that was well before eighteen fourteen, when the Spite House 394 00:23:37,920 --> 00:23:41,320 Speaker 1: was built. Over the years, Tyler had amassed a good 395 00:23:41,359 --> 00:23:44,800 Speaker 1: bit of wealth, and he had invested in property. He'd 396 00:23:44,800 --> 00:23:48,520 Speaker 1: gotten a significant parcel via a public auction after the 397 00:23:48,600 --> 00:23:52,320 Speaker 1: land had been seized from a tory. That parcel sat 398 00:23:52,359 --> 00:23:56,159 Speaker 1: in a position physically where a street, which was Record Street, 399 00:23:56,520 --> 00:23:59,399 Speaker 1: ended in front of it. Behind the property, there was 400 00:23:59,440 --> 00:24:03,240 Speaker 1: another s. West Patrick Street, and city planners thought it 401 00:24:03,240 --> 00:24:06,080 Speaker 1: would be a really good idea to extend Record Street 402 00:24:06,119 --> 00:24:10,560 Speaker 1: and connect these two roadways. That would mean cutting right 403 00:24:10,680 --> 00:24:14,920 Speaker 1: through Tyler's land. Doctor Tyler did not want to lose 404 00:24:15,080 --> 00:24:18,679 Speaker 1: any of his property to this public works project. He 405 00:24:18,800 --> 00:24:22,160 Speaker 1: protested the plan through official channels, but he didn't really 406 00:24:22,200 --> 00:24:25,760 Speaker 1: make any headway. He started to look through the various 407 00:24:25,840 --> 00:24:29,560 Speaker 1: laws and ordinances that applied to private property and roadwork, 408 00:24:29,720 --> 00:24:33,040 Speaker 1: and then he found it. There was a local law 409 00:24:33,160 --> 00:24:36,199 Speaker 1: to Frederick that stated that if a substantial building was 410 00:24:36,200 --> 00:24:39,440 Speaker 1: in the path of a proposed roadway, the road could 411 00:24:39,440 --> 00:24:43,000 Speaker 1: not be built there. Now. At the time, the lot 412 00:24:43,040 --> 00:24:45,959 Speaker 1: where the road was supposed to go was empty. Tyler 413 00:24:46,000 --> 00:24:48,120 Speaker 1: actually lived in a house that was on the lot 414 00:24:48,200 --> 00:24:52,200 Speaker 1: next to it. But he hatched a plan. Tyler started 415 00:24:52,240 --> 00:24:54,960 Speaker 1: reaching out to builders, and he found one who was 416 00:24:55,000 --> 00:24:57,239 Speaker 1: willing to help him out and in a hurry, and 417 00:24:57,280 --> 00:25:01,240 Speaker 1: by in a hurry, we mean that night because the 418 00:25:01,320 --> 00:25:05,040 Speaker 1: roadwork was supposed to start the next day. The road 419 00:25:05,119 --> 00:25:08,479 Speaker 1: crew did arrive the following morning, but what they found 420 00:25:08,560 --> 00:25:11,879 Speaker 1: was a foundation being laid and doctor Tyler sitting in 421 00:25:11,920 --> 00:25:16,560 Speaker 1: a chair and overseeing things. I'm like, this is Arthur Dent, 422 00:25:16,640 --> 00:25:23,240 Speaker 1: but backwards. The road was rerouted to cut around the 423 00:25:23,240 --> 00:25:27,639 Speaker 1: new construction, and Tyler got to keep his lot intact. 424 00:25:28,160 --> 00:25:31,600 Speaker 1: He did complete construction on a three story house and 425 00:25:31,640 --> 00:25:35,120 Speaker 1: he rented that out. After Tyler's death, the house went 426 00:25:35,160 --> 00:25:37,840 Speaker 1: through a chain of owners, and because of his size, 427 00:25:38,440 --> 00:25:40,600 Speaker 1: it has bedrooms on each floor. It's been a bed 428 00:25:40,600 --> 00:25:43,680 Speaker 1: and breakfast for long stretches of time over the years. 429 00:25:43,880 --> 00:25:46,840 Speaker 1: There doesn't appear to be a bed and breakfast operating 430 00:25:46,880 --> 00:25:49,920 Speaker 1: there right now. No. I went down a rabbit hole 431 00:25:49,960 --> 00:25:54,239 Speaker 1: looking for it, and I found listed on one of 432 00:25:54,240 --> 00:25:58,879 Speaker 1: those sites that aggregates inns and bed and breakfasts. It listed, 433 00:25:59,040 --> 00:26:01,920 Speaker 1: but when you click through, there's nothing there. And then 434 00:26:01,960 --> 00:26:04,359 Speaker 1: I looked for it on another map site and it 435 00:26:04,480 --> 00:26:08,560 Speaker 1: said that is closed. So it's not there now, but 436 00:26:08,960 --> 00:26:13,679 Speaker 1: the building still is. This brings us to our last house, 437 00:26:13,800 --> 00:26:16,320 Speaker 1: and it is the one that originally started this idea 438 00:26:16,600 --> 00:26:18,840 Speaker 1: because it's what was mentioned in the Instagram post, and 439 00:26:18,880 --> 00:26:22,359 Speaker 1: that is the Hollinsbury Spite House in the Old Town 440 00:26:22,400 --> 00:26:26,280 Speaker 1: district of Alexandria, Virginia. And this house has become really 441 00:26:26,280 --> 00:26:29,280 Speaker 1: famous through the years. It's become a curiosity and a 442 00:26:29,280 --> 00:26:32,280 Speaker 1: point of pride for the neighborhood, and the current owners, 443 00:26:32,280 --> 00:26:34,360 Speaker 1: who have had it for quite some time, have been 444 00:26:34,720 --> 00:26:37,840 Speaker 1: very game about talking to the press about this house's 445 00:26:37,920 --> 00:26:40,880 Speaker 1: history and how it fits into their life. This one 446 00:26:40,920 --> 00:26:44,879 Speaker 1: starts in the eighteen twenties and a man named John Hollinsbury. 447 00:26:45,359 --> 00:26:48,160 Speaker 1: Hollinsbury was a brickmaker and he lived at five twenty 448 00:26:48,160 --> 00:26:51,200 Speaker 1: five Queen Street, but he was plagued by a problem 449 00:26:51,760 --> 00:26:55,879 Speaker 1: or many problems, in the form of carriages. Between his 450 00:26:56,040 --> 00:26:59,000 Speaker 1: home and the next there was an alley and it 451 00:26:59,119 --> 00:27:02,120 Speaker 1: was narrow, but that did not stop carriage drivers from 452 00:27:02,119 --> 00:27:05,399 Speaker 1: trying to squeak through the alley as a shortcut, and 453 00:27:05,520 --> 00:27:09,440 Speaker 1: often they did not really fit. They kept gouging the 454 00:27:09,480 --> 00:27:13,679 Speaker 1: exterior wall of Hollinsbury's house. Additionally, there was a lot 455 00:27:13,720 --> 00:27:16,439 Speaker 1: of foot traffic and loitering, and John, who was a 456 00:27:16,440 --> 00:27:19,199 Speaker 1: city council member, did not like this. So finally he 457 00:27:19,280 --> 00:27:23,480 Speaker 1: had an idea, and that idea was to purchase the alley, 458 00:27:23,640 --> 00:27:26,520 Speaker 1: paying forty five dollars and sixty five cents for it, 459 00:27:27,119 --> 00:27:29,920 Speaker 1: no paltry sum in the late eighteen twenties. And then 460 00:27:30,600 --> 00:27:34,120 Speaker 1: the brickmaker cut off the alley to through traffic by 461 00:27:34,160 --> 00:27:36,680 Speaker 1: bricking in each end of it and putting a roof 462 00:27:36,760 --> 00:27:41,120 Speaker 1: over the top, creating a very narrow house. The resulting 463 00:27:41,160 --> 00:27:44,440 Speaker 1: structure is just seven feet wide. It's two stories tall, 464 00:27:44,880 --> 00:27:48,160 Speaker 1: with a reported four hundred and eighty total square feet 465 00:27:48,200 --> 00:27:51,120 Speaker 1: of space, although some write ups about the home say 466 00:27:51,119 --> 00:27:54,080 Speaker 1: it only has three hundred and fifty. You'll also see 467 00:27:54,119 --> 00:27:57,359 Speaker 1: a couple other numbers floating around out there. One of 468 00:27:57,400 --> 00:28:00,399 Speaker 1: the pieces of supporting evidence for the vera city of 469 00:28:00,400 --> 00:28:03,280 Speaker 1: this story, because it has them variations, is the fact 470 00:28:03,280 --> 00:28:07,160 Speaker 1: that the interior walls, which are just the exterior walls 471 00:28:07,160 --> 00:28:11,320 Speaker 1: of Hollinsbury's house and his neighbors do, indeed still show 472 00:28:11,359 --> 00:28:15,600 Speaker 1: those dings and gouges from carriages. The variations have no 473 00:28:15,680 --> 00:28:19,400 Speaker 1: real substantiation, it's all just gossip, and they involve variations 474 00:28:19,440 --> 00:28:22,200 Speaker 1: of the idea that John had some kind of quarrel 475 00:28:22,280 --> 00:28:25,360 Speaker 1: with his neighbor, or that he may have even been 476 00:28:25,480 --> 00:28:29,280 Speaker 1: making the space for another family member to live in. Yeah, 477 00:28:29,320 --> 00:28:32,680 Speaker 1: those don't have a lot of information to back them up. 478 00:28:32,760 --> 00:28:35,840 Speaker 1: The only real piece of evidence evidence is those gouges 479 00:28:35,880 --> 00:28:40,600 Speaker 1: in the Wawnice. John Hollinsbury died on June sixteenth, eighteen 480 00:28:40,680 --> 00:28:43,360 Speaker 1: fifty six, at the age of eighty four. At that 481 00:28:43,440 --> 00:28:46,200 Speaker 1: point he had been a resident of Alexandria for seventy 482 00:28:46,240 --> 00:28:49,800 Speaker 1: five years, and the unique narrow house he created has 483 00:28:49,880 --> 00:28:53,920 Speaker 1: gone through several owners in identity since then, including being 484 00:28:53,960 --> 00:28:57,880 Speaker 1: a school house for a while, But today the Hollinsbury 485 00:28:58,000 --> 00:29:01,160 Speaker 1: Spite House is a private home. It's passed through a 486 00:29:01,240 --> 00:29:04,000 Speaker 1: number of hands, but in nineteen ninety it was purchased 487 00:29:04,000 --> 00:29:07,600 Speaker 1: by John Sammus. He owns it with his wife, Colleen, 488 00:29:07,760 --> 00:29:09,880 Speaker 1: and the two of them gave an interview for The 489 00:29:09,880 --> 00:29:12,200 Speaker 1: New York Times in two thousand and eight in which 490 00:29:12,240 --> 00:29:15,160 Speaker 1: Colleen told the story of the two of them meeting 491 00:29:15,200 --> 00:29:18,320 Speaker 1: at a dinner party and how woud she was when 492 00:29:18,360 --> 00:29:21,480 Speaker 1: she found out John owned the spite House. As for 493 00:29:21,600 --> 00:29:24,000 Speaker 1: John's history with the house, he knew about it well 494 00:29:24,040 --> 00:29:26,800 Speaker 1: before he bought it, and has said that when he 495 00:29:26,920 --> 00:29:29,760 Speaker 1: was walking around the city for lunch or for meetings, 496 00:29:29,760 --> 00:29:32,520 Speaker 1: he would often purposely take in a route that would 497 00:29:32,560 --> 00:29:35,840 Speaker 1: take him past this curious little house. He told the 498 00:29:35,960 --> 00:29:38,840 Speaker 1: Washington Post in two thousand and six, quote one Sunday, 499 00:29:38,880 --> 00:29:41,520 Speaker 1: I saw a small ad in the paper that described 500 00:29:41,520 --> 00:29:44,040 Speaker 1: this little house, and I knew which one it was. Immediately. 501 00:29:44,120 --> 00:29:46,200 Speaker 1: I got in my car and went down there to 502 00:29:46,280 --> 00:29:49,560 Speaker 1: the open house and bought it that day. I didn't 503 00:29:49,560 --> 00:29:51,640 Speaker 1: know what I wanted to do with it. I knew 504 00:29:51,680 --> 00:29:54,120 Speaker 1: I wouldn't live in it full time. It just seemed 505 00:29:54,160 --> 00:29:57,520 Speaker 1: like too good of an opportunity to pass up, Although 506 00:29:57,520 --> 00:29:59,440 Speaker 1: he may not have had a plan when he signed 507 00:29:59,480 --> 00:30:01,560 Speaker 1: the deal for the deed, which cost him one hundred 508 00:30:01,560 --> 00:30:05,080 Speaker 1: and thirty five thousand dollars. Sam has hired a contractor 509 00:30:05,160 --> 00:30:07,760 Speaker 1: and a decorator to update the home for modern living 510 00:30:07,800 --> 00:30:11,560 Speaker 1: while still retaining its historic personality. So they did things 511 00:30:11,640 --> 00:30:14,840 Speaker 1: like install ac for example, and to make more space, 512 00:30:15,240 --> 00:30:17,720 Speaker 1: the backyard was turned into a garden and sort of 513 00:30:17,760 --> 00:30:21,560 Speaker 1: an outdoor living space. The Bright Blue House is a 514 00:30:21,600 --> 00:30:26,600 Speaker 1: regular stop on historical tours of Old Town Alexandria. So 515 00:30:26,800 --> 00:30:29,040 Speaker 1: though it was built by Hollinsbury to keep people he 516 00:30:29,080 --> 00:30:33,120 Speaker 1: didn't like a way, now it draws lots of visitors. 517 00:30:34,560 --> 00:30:39,560 Speaker 1: I love the kind of flip of how that played out. 518 00:30:39,680 --> 00:30:43,880 Speaker 1: But those are some spite houses. I love spite houses. 519 00:30:44,000 --> 00:30:50,400 Speaker 1: Meantime knows more behind the scenes. I have a listener mail. 520 00:30:51,000 --> 00:30:53,920 Speaker 1: This is from our listener, Yuan, whose name I probably 521 00:30:53,960 --> 00:30:57,760 Speaker 1: mispronounced lightly. I'm doing my best fingers crossed, who is 522 00:30:57,800 --> 00:31:02,240 Speaker 1: writing about tomorrow del and writes ladies on my way 523 00:31:02,280 --> 00:31:04,680 Speaker 1: to the Young Museum today, I re listened to your 524 00:31:04,680 --> 00:31:07,840 Speaker 1: Tomorrow Olympica episode to make sure her life story was fresh. 525 00:31:08,360 --> 00:31:10,880 Speaker 1: The ticket agent surprised me when he asked me if 526 00:31:10,880 --> 00:31:14,640 Speaker 1: I was to visit the Tomorrow d Lempichka exhibition. I 527 00:31:14,680 --> 00:31:16,640 Speaker 1: made a mental note not to skip the C in 528 00:31:16,720 --> 00:31:21,160 Speaker 1: her name, given her Polish root ch sounded about right then. 529 00:31:21,320 --> 00:31:24,320 Speaker 1: The bio page and several places on interpretive panels. In 530 00:31:24,400 --> 00:31:27,800 Speaker 1: side panels says that critics used to rave about Monsieur d' 531 00:31:27,880 --> 00:31:31,760 Speaker 1: Leempezki because she signed her early work T d' Lempitzki 532 00:31:31,960 --> 00:31:36,320 Speaker 1: Monsieur Lempiki's masculine form. Given that C was followed by 533 00:31:36,320 --> 00:31:40,520 Speaker 1: a consonant TZ makes more sense. Maybe the ticket agent 534 00:31:40,600 --> 00:31:43,760 Speaker 1: was just attempting at Polish, or maybe I simply misheard. 535 00:31:44,120 --> 00:31:47,720 Speaker 1: Wikipedia further indicates that the first letter is softened and 536 00:31:47,760 --> 00:31:50,360 Speaker 1: sounds like W, although I doubt if there is public 537 00:31:50,400 --> 00:31:55,040 Speaker 1: awareness outside Slavic populations. Meanwhile, US and TV radio hosts 538 00:31:55,320 --> 00:32:00,280 Speaker 1: had passing pronunciations of Lekwalzza before I go on with 539 00:32:00,360 --> 00:32:05,120 Speaker 1: this email. What I will say is I had looked 540 00:32:05,120 --> 00:32:08,440 Speaker 1: at all of these variations, and I eventually defaulted to 541 00:32:08,480 --> 00:32:12,280 Speaker 1: the way her great granddaughter says it, because the de 542 00:32:12,440 --> 00:32:16,000 Speaker 1: Young produced like a short documentary about the exhibit, and 543 00:32:16,200 --> 00:32:19,280 Speaker 1: she pronounces it more or less the way we pronounced it, 544 00:32:19,320 --> 00:32:21,080 Speaker 1: and so that's just what I defaulted to, just in 545 00:32:21,120 --> 00:32:27,440 Speaker 1: case anybody's curious. Also, given Tamara Olimpica and her personality 546 00:32:27,720 --> 00:32:31,080 Speaker 1: and the fact that she changed her name to sound 547 00:32:31,720 --> 00:32:35,160 Speaker 1: more artsy, I guess I think we have some leeway. 548 00:32:35,920 --> 00:32:38,200 Speaker 1: I also my friend who inspired the episode in the 549 00:32:38,200 --> 00:32:40,720 Speaker 1: first place mentioned she's gone back to the exhibit a 550 00:32:40,720 --> 00:32:43,560 Speaker 1: couple of times, and she said, I don't think anyone 551 00:32:43,640 --> 00:32:45,400 Speaker 1: I have talked to you there at the museum has 552 00:32:45,440 --> 00:32:48,720 Speaker 1: ever used her last name. They just say tomorrow every time, 553 00:32:48,840 --> 00:32:52,160 Speaker 1: So this might be a confusion situation for everyone. In 554 00:32:52,200 --> 00:32:55,520 Speaker 1: any case, to complete the email, the exhibit is really 555 00:32:55,640 --> 00:32:58,080 Speaker 1: rich Not only are the arts stunning, but also the 556 00:32:58,120 --> 00:33:01,240 Speaker 1: stories placed throughout the exhibit and your podcast enrich each 557 00:33:01,240 --> 00:33:05,280 Speaker 1: other perfectly. But the exhibition shows no abstract There's not 558 00:33:05,360 --> 00:33:08,640 Speaker 1: even a mention of this post war direction. Meanwhile, the 559 00:33:08,680 --> 00:33:11,040 Speaker 1: show blames the nineteen forty one New York and San 560 00:33:11,080 --> 00:33:14,880 Speaker 1: Francisco failures on the overly religious tone in the selections. 561 00:33:15,440 --> 00:33:18,880 Speaker 1: The eight out of original twelve San Francisco pieces in 562 00:33:19,000 --> 00:33:22,280 Speaker 1: exhibit indeed lack the edge of her Art Deco era, 563 00:33:22,400 --> 00:33:26,840 Speaker 1: despite similarity in techniques. De Young conjectures that she perhaps 564 00:33:26,920 --> 00:33:30,840 Speaker 1: wanted to avoid attention of anti Semitists by selecting this theme, 565 00:33:31,440 --> 00:33:35,280 Speaker 1: but those interpretations appear too speculative to me, considering her 566 00:33:35,280 --> 00:33:38,479 Speaker 1: parents converted before she was even born, considering that she 567 00:33:38,560 --> 00:33:40,840 Speaker 1: was well received in the US in the thirties when 568 00:33:40,880 --> 00:33:44,600 Speaker 1: anti Semiti's sentiment was heightened, these pieces, as well as 569 00:33:44,640 --> 00:33:48,280 Speaker 1: the Casette first Communion, which Cosette could not recall, could 570 00:33:48,320 --> 00:33:51,240 Speaker 1: easily be common subjects of an artist of that time, 571 00:33:51,680 --> 00:33:55,520 Speaker 1: especially someone who had great grasp of previous masters. I 572 00:33:55,560 --> 00:33:58,360 Speaker 1: looked into Tomorrow's Granddaughter's book in the gift store and 573 00:33:58,400 --> 00:34:01,440 Speaker 1: could not find anything to support them. Uns Zium's interpretations either. 574 00:34:01,960 --> 00:34:04,320 Speaker 1: Thanks again for the reminder that the exhibition was to 575 00:34:04,320 --> 00:34:07,240 Speaker 1: close soon. I had a joyful day at DeYoung. A 576 00:34:07,280 --> 00:34:10,800 Speaker 1: new exhibit of on Rematis's original plates for jazz was 577 00:34:10,840 --> 00:34:13,840 Speaker 1: another big surprise. If you remove his name, I couldn't 578 00:34:13,880 --> 00:34:17,279 Speaker 1: connect the book to Matisse. Thank you so much for 579 00:34:17,320 --> 00:34:20,640 Speaker 1: this email. I will say also a couple of people 580 00:34:20,680 --> 00:34:23,360 Speaker 1: have emailed us because I mentioned with some woe that 581 00:34:23,400 --> 00:34:25,000 Speaker 1: I was not going to make it to San Francisco 582 00:34:25,000 --> 00:34:28,040 Speaker 1: in time, and said, hey, you know it's coming to 583 00:34:28,160 --> 00:34:32,120 Speaker 1: Houston after that, so see you soon Houston. I'm gonna 584 00:34:32,120 --> 00:34:34,759 Speaker 1: make it work. However, I have to, even if it's 585 00:34:34,800 --> 00:34:36,360 Speaker 1: just a quick day trip where I fly out and 586 00:34:36,400 --> 00:34:38,520 Speaker 1: see it and come right home, because I really want 587 00:34:38,560 --> 00:34:41,000 Speaker 1: to see this exhibit. So thank you, thank you, thank 588 00:34:41,040 --> 00:34:43,680 Speaker 1: you for writing us. It is an interesting thing. Her 589 00:34:43,760 --> 00:34:48,279 Speaker 1: name becomes this kind of swirl of nobody really has 590 00:34:49,000 --> 00:34:51,800 Speaker 1: a solid decision on it, which cracks me up a 591 00:34:51,840 --> 00:34:54,920 Speaker 1: little bit. It seems very much in line with her 592 00:34:55,000 --> 00:34:58,239 Speaker 1: as a person. She'd probably chastise us and take our 593 00:34:58,239 --> 00:35:00,360 Speaker 1: plates of food away in any case, So if you 594 00:35:00,400 --> 00:35:02,600 Speaker 1: would like to write to us, you could do so 595 00:35:03,000 --> 00:35:06,880 Speaker 1: at History Podcast at iHeartRadio, dot com. You can also 596 00:35:06,920 --> 00:35:09,040 Speaker 1: subscribe to the show if you haven't already, on the 597 00:35:09,040 --> 00:35:13,800 Speaker 1: iHeartRadio app or anywhere you listen to your favorite shows. 598 00:35:17,719 --> 00:35:20,840 Speaker 1: Stuff you Missed in History Class is a production of iHeartRadio. 599 00:35:21,160 --> 00:35:25,759 Speaker 1: For more podcasts from iHeartRadio, visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, 600 00:35:25,880 --> 00:35:28,200 Speaker 1: or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.