Seven feet six inches wide, the Hollensbury Spite House at 523 Queen Street squeezes into the alley in front of you, a home many call the skinniest house in the United States. From this spot you can take in its slim facade and imagine the reasons it exists: John Hollensbury reportedly built it in 1830 to stop people loitering in the alley adjoining his house and to keep wagon-wheel hubs from chipping his exterior walls. Other explanations survived as well — a dispute with a neighbor, or even a gift to his two daughters — and the stories are part of the house’s charm.
Inside, the house measures 350 square-feet (32.5 sq m) and, because of its narrow front door and small interior space, is furnished with smaller pieces and antiques. The property also includes an outdoor patio and garden, giving extra entertaining space beyond the tiny interior. This little building has drawn international attention, been covered by numerous news outlets, and was once featured on The Oprah Winfrey Show; tourists often pose here and it’s on local history tours.
Picture the tourists who still pause here for photos beside this famously narrow façade and its alley.