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Skinniest House in America - Virtual Reward Virtual Cache

Hidden : 8/24/2017
Difficulty:
1 out of 5
Terrain:
1 out of 5

Size: Size:   virtual (virtual)

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Geocache Description:

This Virtual Cache will take you to a Long Beach Historical Landmark that has been featured in the Guinness Book of World Records and Ripley's Believe It or Not. Parking can be a challenge, so you may have to circle the block or park in the 30-minute zone just around the corner on 7th Street.

I was offered the opportunity to create a Virtual Cache, so I am bringing you to what is often called "The Skinniest House in America". There are other skinny houses in our vast country, but both the Guinness Book of World Records and Ripley's Believe It or Not have, at one time, given the honor to the Skinny House at 708 Gladys Avenue in the Rose Park Historical District of the City of Long Beach.

The 10' x 50' lot containing the house was acquired by Newton Rummond as payment for a $100 debt in 1931 during the Depression. Rummond designed and built the Skinny House in 1932 to win a bet that a habitable home could be build on such a small piece of land. This three-story English Tudor Revival house is 10' wide, has a living room that measures 9' x 21', features 2 bedrooms and 1 bathroom, and boasts 860 square feet of living space. The house is one room wide and has a deck on the third story.

In 1959, it was discovered that the house had leaned 4 inches to the north, so it was straightened. The Skinny House became a registered Historic Landmark of the City of Long Beach, California in 1983.

To prove that you were here and to get credit for finding this Virtual Cache, you need to accomplish two tasks:

  • Email or message me and report what 8 letters and numbers you see on the metallic vertical sign on the telephone pole that is on the sidewalk in front of the house.
  • Post a photo demonstrating that you were actually at GZ. No need to include anybody's faces in the photo.

If you are here with other cachers, only one of you needs to contact me, but please include in your message the names of the other cachers.

Feel free to post photos of the house, but please do not post any spoiler photos of the telephone pole.

This house is occupied, so please be courteous and do not disturb the residents.

Virtual Reward - 2017/2018

This Virtual Cache is part of a limited release of Virtuals created between August 24, 2017 and August 24, 2018. Only 4,000 cache owners were given the opportunity to hide a Virtual Cache. Learn more about Virtual Rewards on the Geocaching Blog.

The Geocaching Blog on April 10, 2018 featured this Virtual Cache in their article entitled "Virtual Rewards: The world is your oyster!".

Additional Hints (No hints available.)