Spite house

A spite house is a building constructed or substantially modified to irritate neighbors or any party with land stakes. Because long-term occupation is not the primary purpose of these houses, they frequently exhibit strange and impractical structures.

Purpose

Spite houses may deliberately obstruct light, block access to neighboring buildings, or be flagrant symbols of defiance. Spite house are a particularly local kind of hostile architecture meant to annoy/irritate a particular person.

Although, in the US, homeowners generally have no right to views, light, or air, neighbors can sue for a negative easement. In instances regarding a spite build, courts are far more likely to side with the neighboring parties which may have been affected by that build. For example, the Coty v. Ramsey Associates, Inc. case of 1988 ruled that the defendant's spite farm constituted a nuisance, granting the neighboring landowner a negative easement.

Spite houses, as well as spite farms, are considerably rarer than spite fences. This is partially because 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, quicker, and easier than building construction. There are also similar structures known as spite walls or blinder walls.

In certain jurisdictions, construction of spite houses or spite fences is considered abuse of rights. In some countries, like Finland, it is explicitly prohibited by law.