A line house is a building deliberately located so that an international boundary passes through it. One such building on the boundary between the United States and Canada is the

Haskell Free Library and Opera House , image = HaskellFreeLibraryandOperaHouse.JPG , caption = Haskell Free Library and Opera House in 2012 , location = Stanstead, Quebec, CanadaDerby Line, Vermont, U.S. , coordinates = , area = , architect = Nate Beach & James Ball , a ...

Stanstead, Quebec Stanstead is a town in the Memphrémagog Regional County Municipality in the Estrie region of Quebec, located on the Canada–United States border across from Derby Line, Vermont. The Town of Stanstead was created in 1995 by the merger of the ...

, and

Derby Line, Vermont Derby Line is an incorporated village in the town of Derby in Orleans County, Vermont, United States, slightly north of the 45th parallel, the nominal U.S.-Canada boundary. The population was 687 at the 2020 census. The village is located o ...

. The border is marked on the floor in a reading room and an auditorium. A number of single-family residences and some industrial buildings straddle the boundary in those two towns. The

International Boundary Commission The International Boundary Commission (french: Commission de la frontière internationale) is a bi-national organization responsible for surveying and mapping the Canada–United States border. The commission was created in 1908 and made permanen ...

encourages line houses to be abandoned as part of its mandate to clearly demarcate the Canada–US border. The Haskell Free Library and most other line houses are on the

Collins–Valentine line The Collins–Valentine line, or Valentine–Collins line, is the boundary at approximately 45 degrees north latitude that separates the province of Quebec from the states of New York and Vermont. It was surveyed and marked by survey monuments in ...

between Quebec and New York/Vermont. Line houses exist also in

Baarle-Hertog (; french: Baerle-Duc, ) is a Flemish municipality of Belgium, much of which consists of a number of small Belgian enclaves fully surrounded by the Netherlands. Parts of are surrounded by the Dutch province of North Brabant, but it is part of t ...

on the border between Belgium and the Netherlands. The border between the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

and the

Republic of Ireland Ireland ( ga, Éire ), also known as the Republic of Ireland (), is a country in north-western Europe consisting of 26 of the 32 counties of the island of Ireland. The capital and largest city is Dublin, on the eastern side of the island. A ...

passes through many houses and other buildings. In Sungai Haji Kuning at

Sebatik Island Sebatik Island ( Indonesian/ Malay: ''Pulau Sebatik'') is an island off the eastern coast of Borneo, partly within Indonesia and partly within Malaysia. It is one of the 92 officially listed outlying islands of Indonesia. Sebatik has an are ...

, which is divided between

Malaysia Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federation, federal constitutional monarchy consists of States and federal territories of Malaysia, thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two r ...

and

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...

, there is a house divided by the countries' borders.This House Built On the Middle of a Border Is Half Malaysian and Half Indonesian!
World of Buzz

Paul VI Audience Hall The Paul VI Audience Hall ( it, Aula Paolo VI) also known as the Hall of the Pontifical Audiences is a building in Rome named for Pope with a seating capacity of 6,300, designed in reinforced concrete by the Italian architect Pier Luigi N ...

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

lies partially in the

Vatican City Vatican City (), officially the Vatican City State ( it, Stato della Città del Vaticano; la, Status Civitatis Vaticanae),—' * german: Vatikanstadt, cf. '—' (in Austria: ') * pl, Miasto Watykańskie, cf. '—' * pt, Cidade do Vati ...

but mostly in

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

: the Italian part of the building is treated as an extraterritorial area of the Holy See and is used by the Pope as an alternative to Saint Peter's Square when conducting his Wednesday morning General Audience.

References

{{reflist Buildings and structures by type Borders

See also

References