Montlake Studio in Spite House

You can get a look at this place from the road without bothering the people who live there. It’s a great historical landmark.

From the alley, you can see how small the house is, even though it looks like an ordinary home from the front. People live there now, so be respectful and stay off the property if you visit. It’s a cute “tiny home,” though at 800 square feet it isn’t all that tiny. The story goes that a neighbor offered the owner a paltry amount for a small piece of land. Instead of taking it, the owner built this house and blocked the neighbor’s view as part of their squabble.

You can glimpse the house while driving through Montlake, though a laurel hedge mostly hides it. There’s a good YouTube documentary about its history that shows the inside, so watch that instead of bothering the people who live there now. The story is that the ex-wife wouldn’t sell the parcel beside her ex-husband’s place after they divorced, and built the wedge-shaped house to block his view for good. I’d grab a latte from Fuel and add a look at the neighborhood to your walk 🚶‍♂️ 😎.

What a strange little house.