Spite house

A spite house is a building constructed or substantially modified to irritate neighbors or any party with land stakes. Spite houses may create obstructions, such as blocking out light or blocking access to neighboring buildings, or can be flagrant symbols of defiance. Because long-term occupation is at best a secondary consideration, spite houses frequently sport strange and impractical structures.

Spite houses are considerably more rare than spite fences. This is partially attributable to the fact that modern building codes often prevent the construction of houses likely to impinge on neighbors' views or privacy, but mostly because fence construction is far cheaper than home construction.

The term spite house also relates to an old Southern United States custom of consigning an ostracized family member to a very small second house on the family land "where he was expected to live in solitude as punishment for having embarrassed his family".

The term was publicised on the BBC television series QI as one of their gag topics in the ninth episode of Series H in the extended version of the show (QI XL).

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