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House Tour: Alexandria's Spite House
NYT 2.29.08

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We've seen this seven-foot wide house on television before (we believe it was the Small Space Oprah show), but this week The New York Times takes us inside Alexandria Virginia's Spite House. Built in 1830 to keep traffic out of the narrow alley, the two-story house is only 25 feet deep. The owners have used almost all of the tricks to maximize space — from an under-counter fridge to minimal possessions and low furniture...

 
 

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Of course, it's easier to use a small space when it's your second home. Owners Jack and Colleen Sammis use the home as a pied-à-terre. For the full article on this 325-square-foot home, see A Tiny, Beloved Home That Was Built for Spite and the accompanying slideshow.

(Pics: Michael Temchine)

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Blogging..., real estate, history, House Tours, The New York Times, small scale

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Comments (17)

This house is cute, but there's also a house on a street perpendicular to Queen whose address involves a fraction. I always wanted to check that place out.

posted by KristinaXI on 2008-02-29 15:32:23
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Getting furniture and mattresses up the stairs must be a nightmare.

posted by Michael W. on 2008-02-29 15:40:41
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Kristina, I live in a home with a fraction! Admittedly, I don't live in NYC, though. That darn fraction is a pain in the rear when you're trying to fill out on-online forms. A lot of them only accept numerals--no slashes, dashes, or periods. Argh!

posted by Molly Margarita on 2008-02-29 15:47:08
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It's a cute space but there's something about that 3rd picture from overhead that makes me feel claustrophobic just looking at it.

posted by carpentrix on 2008-02-29 15:47:40
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carpentrix - part of the issue with that particular picture is due to the extremely wide-angle lens used for the photograph...it captures the entire room but distorts the image a lot, too. it made me a bit queasy also.

posted by Aaron on 2008-02-29 16:16:55
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I actually love the look of the sideways-bed fake-head wall-canopy; with all the recent talk of headboards, it's really cute.

posted by Elizabeth II on 2008-02-29 16:37:16
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I feel as if I have watched this family grow. The first time I saw this house on a design show, I thought the Dad was divorced and it was his primary residence. Nice to see that he's remarried.

posted by LauraE on 2008-02-29 16:43:34
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I'm confused -- the walls are actually the brick walls of the houses on either side, the article says! So their house is not really their house, but completely dependent and attached to the two older homes. How does this work? What if one of the next-door neighbors decides to tear down their house or remodel?

Small space wise, though, I love it. It's bigger than my apartment.

posted by LolaDanger on 2008-02-29 16:58:31
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i would love a place this large...compared to my apartment it's pretty huge!

posted by nextweek on 2008-02-29 17:02:03
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Oooh, I saw this on HGTV! Had to have been SSBS. They had the father and son show it off. Neat story of how the house came to be.

posted by RJD on 2008-02-29 17:04:01
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Yep ... it was SSBS ... one of my favorites!

posted by ridge_van_winkle on 2008-02-29 17:06:58
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Is it just me, or does this article make living in a small space seem kind of freakish. Like a circus side show?

posted by SFGail on 2008-02-29 17:15:41
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Lola- I doubt anyone in that neighborhood is allowed to tear down or remodel the outside. It has Historic District written all over it.

posted by Lisa Hunter on 2008-02-29 17:29:16
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Lisa Hunter -

You're absolutely right. Old Town Alexandria's architectural review board is extremely strict. Houses with far less historical significance than the Spite House are routinely denied permits for architectural alterations. There is NO way this house would ever be knocked down!

posted by j i on 2008-03-01 02:40:57
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it would be cooler if this were their primary residence.

posted by SD913 on 2008-03-03 09:51:28
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i think the yellow on the walls is genius. although this isn't a style i would ever choose, this home wouldn't look appropriate any other ways. Thanks for sharing

posted by Stephvixen on 2008-03-03 16:45:59
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This house was actually on HGTV, Small Space Big Style, but at that time only Jack was living there with his son - you're right Laura E!

Now the real question - who marries a guy with a house that small :-)

posted by chicagomom72 on 2008-03-07 16:12:59
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