It’s not Larry David’s spite store in “Curb Your Enthusiasm,” but a developer in Florida’s Jacksonville Beach put his own spin on needling his neighbors with an unlikely property.
Homebuilder John Atkins built a 10-foot-wide, 19-foot-tall home at 1952 Horn Street after refusing to sell the lot to interested neighbors, the New York Post reported. Mike Cavanagh, who recently penned an essay for Business Insider, purchased the home for $619,000.
Once he determined he wasn’t going to sell the odd lot, Atkins took his defiance a step further by building on the parcel. The move drew some rebukes from city officials, who rejected plans for a much larger home: 15-feet wide.
Besides its bizarre aesthetics and close proximity to the homes it’s sandwiched between, the home’s spite extends to casting shadows on its neighbors’ swimming pools.
Cavanagh cited his lifestyle as a reason the strange home with “great curb appeal” works for him. He’s single and doesn’t have to worry about kids bouncing off the close walls.
Despite its unusual build, the home spans more than 1,500 square feet and is not lacking in bells and whistles. Natural light also floods the home, which makes it feel more open than the size suggests, according to Cavanagh.
It also has local, sentimental touches, like the dining table built by salvaged wood from a local pier destroyed by Hurricane Matthew nine years ago.
While Cavanagh, a regional manager for a medical device company, enjoys living in the spite house, he also views it as a good investment. He said that “Jacksonville Beach has been slow to develop” compared to other Florida beach towns, keeping the area affordable.
“Overall, I do think buying the home was a good decision,” Cavanagh said. “Smart people just don’t buy real estate to make money; they buy to have a great place to live — and to avoid losing money.”
Besides, Cavanagh believes he could always rent out the home if he decided to leave, or find another buyer to carry on the spite.
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