THE SPITE HOUSE OF MELROSE AVENUE (1899)
******************************************************************************************************************************** Brownstone Detectives investigates the history of our clients’ homes. The story you are about to read was composed from research conducted in the course of one of those investigations. Do you know the history of YOUR house? ******************************************************************************************************************************** Around the turn of the last century, Melrose Avenue in the Bronx was widened. The land that the city needed to perform this expansion was purchased from private owners. In some cases, however, it left some very-difficult-to-build-on lots. Such was the case with a lot on the corner of East 161st Street and Melrose Avenue. From The Strand Magazine, 1899. “This odd building stood on the corner of 161st Street and Melrose Avenue, New York City. It was a bit over 4ft. in depth, 17ft. frontage, and one and a-half storeys high, with a basement and sub-basement built under the broad sidewalk, extending to the curb. The house itself was of wood, on a steel frame, and had a slate roof. “Its owner was an eccentric tailor, who lived and carried on his trade below the street. The interior consisted of a small show-room, a store-room, and spiral iron stairway going down to the ‘lower regions.’ “The upper storey seems to have been constructed merely as a finishing touch. It was reached by an iron ladder from the store-room. The entire construction, appointments, and fittings were very ingenious, and were all the ideas of the owner. “The story of the house was that the original lot was cut away in opening […]
THE “SPITE WALL” OF CALDERVILLE (1919)
******************************************************************************************************************************** Brownstone Detectives investigates the history of our clients’ homes. The story you are about to read was composed from research conducted in the course of one of those investigations. Do you know the history of YOUR house? ******************************************************************************************************************************** We have all heard of the “spite house.” It is a type of building – constructed on an impossibly small piece of land – existing for a single purpose. That purpose? Spite. In 1919, Marcus Siegelman produced a variation on this theme. He built a spite “wall.” BAD WALLS MAKE BAD NEIGHBORS Sitting in his backyard one day, Siegelman watched as two holes began to appear through the brick wall at the end of his yard. That brick wall was the side of his neighbor’s house, and those holes were about 15 feet up from ground level. Small at first, they eventually grew to the shapes of a couple of large rectangles. Siegelman immediately had his suspicions, but he waited to see what would happen. Slowly, after they were made perfectly squared, into the new openings were installed a couple of sash windows. Siegelman, who lived at No. 1627 10th Avenue in what was known at the time as Calderville (but is referred to today as Windsor Terrace), was now suddenly at war with his neighbor, E. L. Morris, a former policeman who lived at No. 192 Windsor Place (the house behind his with the new windows). For Morris now had a perfect view into Siegelman’s backyard – and his home. […]
