It may have been a big fat lie.
Boston’s famed Skinny House on 46 Hull St., the narrowest home in the city, may not have been built out of spite at all, a resurfaced 1920s article and historical materials reveal.
The popular Beantown tale claims that the 10-foot-wide home that last sold in 2021 was constructed after a soldier returned from the Civil War to find his brother built a home that took up most of the land they were meant to share.
To get back at his selfish sibling, the veteran built 46 Hull St. to to block any sunlight his sibling’s property might get — but the yarn that may actually be the stuff of legend, according to Business Insider.
A closer look at a 1920s Boston Globe article calling it a “Spite House” suggests that the svelte home may have been erected during a land dispute during the American Revolution between residents who were figuratively on opposite sides of the fence, with one a possible Great Britain-supporting “Tory.”
But even that may not be true, with the unidentified Globe author referring to a map held by the Bostonian Society that showed the house was not constructed until after 1874, and gives “the lie to the old legend.”
An 1852 map from the Boston Public Library seemingly shows empty plots of land at 44,46 and 48 Hull Street, while an an updated map reveals four properties under the name of Thomas Caswell by 1874, Business Insider reported.
An examination of a map from 1888 in the Harvard Library suggests that the owner of 46 Hull St. splith the home up between 1875 and 1888, creating the narrow spot for the rumored “spite house.”
The Boston Public Library also has a circa 1875 photo showing exterior features — such as window overhands and siding — along this part of Hull Street that seemingly match what remains on the “skinny house” today, the outlet said.
The photo could indicate that 44 Hull St. was not built separately from neighboring homes, which may have been built with wood before they were switched to brick, Business Insider reported.
The “skinny house” measures about 1,165 square feet. At its rear, it trims down to a mere 9.25 feet wide.
The home stands four stories high and doesn’t have a front door — just four oversized windows visible from the curb with the entrance down an alleyway located alongside the home.
Its reputation must have outsized its small frame, selling in 2021 for $1.25 million, according to Zillow.