Skinny House, Boston, Visitor Guide & Things to Do Nearby

The Skinny House at 44 Hull Street in Boston's North End is a four-story home only about 10 feet wide, often called the narrowest house in the city. It is a private residence, but its sliver of a facade squeezed between larger neighbours makes it one of the most photographed and talked-about quirks of Boston's oldest neighbourhood.

The story behind it

The house is best known for a local legend about two brothers. Their father died and left them a plot of land. While one brother was away fighting in the Civil War, the other built a large house on the property and left only a small strip for his sibling. When the soldier came home, he is said to have answered by building the tall, thin house, so that it would block his brother's sunlight and view.

It is a tale told on every North End walk, and like many legends it is hard to prove. What you can see for yourself is the result: a four-story house, 19th-century in origin, wedged into a space where most builders would have seen nothing worth building on. The nickname "Spite House" has stuck.

What to look for

• Stand back across the street and take in the proportions: the house is far taller than it is wide, which is what makes it look like a slice cut from a larger building.
• Compare it with the wider houses beside it, and picture the legend of one brother's big house shading the other's small plot.
• Look at how the windows are stacked one above another, a clue to how little room each floor has to work with.
• Glance up the street toward the trees of Copp's Hill Burying Ground, which sits very close by and gives Hull Street its quiet, old-Boston feel.

Tips for your visit

• Ten minutes is plenty. The house is viewed from the street, and since it is a private home you cannot go inside, so keep voices down and stay off the steps.
• Daylight is best for photographs, and early morning is usually the quietest on this small street.
• Copp's Hill Burying Ground is a short walk away. Established in 1659, it is among the oldest cemeteries in Boston, and Prince Hall, the abolitionist and founder of the first Black Masonic lodge, is buried there.
• The hill also served as a British gun position during the Battle of Bunker Hill in 1775, so it is worth wandering up while you are here. Old North Church and the Paul Revere House are also nearby in the North End.

See it on a quest

North End Boston: Mafia Mission passes the Skinny House as one stop on a longer walk through the North End. You reach it on foot, the app tells you about the place as you arrive, and you solve a puzzle on the spot. It is a paid quest, and one ticket covers the whole group.

Ghost Hunt in Boston gives the same stop a spookier theme. You walk to the house as part of a route through the surrounding streets, hear about it from the app when you get there, and work out a puzzle in front of you. It is a paid quest, and one ticket covers the whole group.

The Haunting File: Boston, The North End Dead also passes the Skinny House, which makes it a good pick if you like your history with a darker edge. The app explains each place as you reach it, and each stop comes with a puzzle. It is a paid quest, and one ticket covers the whole group.