The only way to get here is by bridge (High Street Bridge, Fruitvale Bridge, Park Street Bridge or Bay Farm Island Bridge) or going through the Posey/Webster Street Tube. In the middle of the San Francisco bay area is a small island named
Alameda, where I grew up. Today I'd like to share a little bit about Spite House and Tregloan Ct., as I was just in Alameda and snapped some pictures of these places since I'd had a little free time.
At the turn of the 20th century, Charles Froling devised a plan to build his dream home on a plot of land he had gained through an inheritance. The
city of Alameda took a large chunk of his land to build a street. To spite the city and his unsympathetic neighbor, Charles built a house 10 feet wide, 54 feet long and 20 feet tall on the narrow strip of land which remained his. This house is standing and occupied.
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| Spite House in Alameda |
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| Whoa, that's close! |
So you can see that Spite House is inched up snugly next to the neighbor's home.
Here is a little information on Tregloan Court in Alameda. I grew up thinking, as did many of my friends due to false rumors, that these homes were for the munchkins from the Wizard of Oz movie. The 124 little people that performed in the movie were housed at the Culver Hotel and the Adams Hotel in Culver City.
After a little bit of digging, I found that these homes were built in 1936 at 2/3 scale. One rumor has it that the homes were built to entice smaller people to move in so they could work on ships in spaces that average-sized folks couldn't get into -- pipes and such. Now, I really don't know if this is true because it says that this happened during WWII. Conflicting evidence is that the homes were built in 1936 and WWII didn't officially begin until 1939 when Germany invaded Poland. Until I find out more, all we know for certain is they were built in 1936 and are 2/3 scale and are as darling as can be.
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| Narrow Street |
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| Cute |
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| Super cute |
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| No, I'm not a midget cat but I'm cute, too. |
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| In need of some TLC, a lovely home |
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Adorable home on the corner
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Hello! I'm a reporter with KQED in San Francisco. I'm working on a story about the 2/3rds houses on Tregloan Street. Do you happen to know anyone who lives in one of the houses? I'm looking to interview a resident for my piece. If so, please have them contact me at cveltman@kqed.org. Thanks!
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ReplyDeleteHi Chloe, I'm sorry, I don't know anyone that lives on Tregloan Court. I do know those small yet beautiful houses though.
ReplyDeleteI have some friends that live in Alameda still and I will ask them if they know anyone and will have them contact you.
~ Lisa