'The Skinny House'

The building is more than 200 years old, just over 10 feet wide, and so narrow that the front door is located in the side alley.

Boston folklore over the years is that the house was originally built to deliberately block the view from another house. Boston's ancient North End is geographically small, densely populated, saturated with row houses, and it is therefore safe to assume there have been a few neighborly disputes in its history. The true reason why the house was built is lost to history of course.