World Art Utopia

Hollensbury Spite House — John Hollensbury, Alexandria

The blue-painted brick Hollensbury Spite House at 523 Queen Street in Alexandria, Virginia, about 7 feet wide, with a black door, yellow window and potted plants, between a white and a red house
Artwork FileAlexandria, USA

Hollensbury Spite House

SeenMar 2022

John Hollensbury · brick alley house, 1830 · 523 Queen Street, Old Town Alexandria, Virginia, USA

Photo: APK / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0), 21 March 2022. Full photograph shown.

Brickmaker John Hollensbury built this house in 1830 in the alley beside his home at 525 Queen Street, reportedly to stop carriages and loiterers using the passage. About 7 feet wide, it is still a private residence and one of Alexandria’s best-known sights. Source Source Reported

Seen Mar 2022. Evidence date: 2022-03-21, the newest dated photograph we found (APK, Wikimedia Commons); Google Street View from June 2021 shows the same blue front. Northern Virginia Magazine’s January 2024 feature describes it as still a private residence. Source Source Source Checked

💡 4 things to know

  1. An alley closed with a houseHollensbury lived next door at 525 Queen Street; as the story goes, he grew exasperated with carriages squeezing through the alley and built a tiny house using the two existing exterior walls. Source Reported
  2. Bought for $45.65Tim Rose of Alexandria History Tours told Northern Virginia Magazine that Hollensbury bought the plot between his home and his neighbor’s for $45.65. Source Reported
  3. About 7 feet wideVisit Alexandria calls it the skinniest historic house in America at 7 feet wide; the Commons photo description gives 7 feet 6 inches. Source Source Reported
  4. Many lives sinceIt served as a schoolhouse in the late 1800s, Rose says; the owner who bought it in 1990 told The New York Times in 2008 that he used it as a weekend home. Source Reported

📍 Where it is

523 Queen Street, Old Town Alexandria, Virginia Source Source Source Checked

Open in Maps

The button opens Google Street View on Queen Street, facing the blue house (image from June 2021).

🗓️ Sightings

  1. 2021Jun

    Google Street View image

  2. 202221 Mar

    Photo by APK (our photo)

  3. 20242 Jan

    Northern Virginia Magazine feature

Green stamps mark dated photographs and Street View images; amber stamps mark records or reports. Publication dates are not camera dates.

🗞️ In the sources

Northern Virginia Magazine2 January 2024

Alexandria’s Spite House is small, but it has a big history

“There’s always a rich irony that people appreciate,” Rose says, “that it may have been built to keep somebody away.”

Tim Rose, founder of Alexandria History Tours.

Read the source →

Visit AlexandriaUndated travel guide

These 5 Alexandria architectural gems will make you swoon

“an irked John Hollensbury built it to keep horse-drawn wagons and loiterers out of his alley.”

Read the source →

✅ The facts

Builder
John Hollensbury, brickmaker Source Source Reported
Address
523 Queen Street, Alexandria Source Source Source Checked
Width
7 feet (Visit Alexandria, Northern Virginia Magazine); 7 feet 6 inches (Commons description) Source Source Source Conflicting
Floor area
325 square feet (Visit Alexandria) or 480 square feet of living space (Northern Virginia Magazine) Source Source Conflicting
Use
Private residence Source Source Checked
Status
Seen 21 March 2022 Source Checked

🔗 Related

All sources & image credits

Photo: APK / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0), 21 March 2022. Full photograph shown.

Last checked: 27 October 2026 · How we verify art