Before touring Chollar Mine, I had some time to kill and debated what to explore in Virginia City. Then, I remembered an article I read about “spite houses .” It took a little searching, but I found the infamous Virginia City spite house.
According to local lore, a miner wanted a house with many windows. After touring the mine, I can see why he wanted good airflow and abundant light. So he built a beautiful white house with windows on all sides.
The man had made at least one enemy in his time in Virginia City. Another miner purchased the adjacent lot moved a house to the property, situating it on the boundary. The home was next to the white house… right next to the white house.
Talk about spite in Virginia City. The houses were less than twelve inches apart, and at the roofline, the red house surrounds the white house. The placement cut off any light or airflow to the side of the white house.
Talk about cutting your nose off to spite your face.
WANT MORE NEVADA GHOST TOWNS?
For information on more than three hundred ghost towns in Nevada, visit the Nevada Ghost Towns Map or a list of Nevada ghost towns.
For information on more than 300 ghost towns in Nevada, visit Nevada Ghost Towns Map
1-30-2022
References
- Business Insider: 15 Obnoxious Homes That Were Built Just To Annoy The Neighbors
- County Living: 12 Quirky Houses Built Purely Out of Spite
- Twisted Shifter: 8 Homes Built Out of Spite
- URBO: Spite Houses: 9 Homes People Built Just To Annoy Their Neighbors
- Wikipedia: Spite House
Therese says
That is right on C Street isn’t it?
Tami says
Close, it is on D. Street, close to Mackay Mansion.
Linda says
Oh my, now that’s some serious spitefullness! Can’t even imagine how that must have played out as ‘close’ neighbors over the years!
Are they private residences today or businesses?
Tami says
From my understanding, they are still private residences. I think a friend’s mom used to own one. It would have been interesting to be a fly on the wall between those two.
Steve Knight says
I love how your writing has evolved
Tami says
Thank you, it is finally starting to feel right for me.
Brandi says
The house on the left hasn’t always been red! I’m looking at a picture I took in 1985-86, and it’s a light beige color. I’ll have to check with my mom, but I *think* their friend—he was a VC sheriffs deputy—lived in it. We lived in Washoe Valley and I worked summers in VC…good times
Tami says
Interesting, thank you for sharing. I think a friend knows someone who lived in the house, it would be funny if they knew each other.