# Hitler House > Hitler House is a 2011 viral photo meme of a Port Tennant end-of-terrace house whose sloping roof and door lintel bore an uncanny resemblance to Adolf Hitler's side-parted hair and toothbrush moustache. Hitler House is a viral photo meme from March 2011 showing an end-of-terrace house in Port Tennant, Swansea, Wales, whose sloping roof and front door lintel bear an uncanny resemblance to Adolf Hitler's side-parted hair and toothbrush moustache. Spotted by 22-year-old Charli Dickenson while stuck in traffic, the photo blew up after comedian Jimmy Carr shared it on Twitter, sparking international news coverage and a wave of "houses that look like celebrities" comparisons. ## Origin Charli Dickenson, a 22-year-old youth worker from Swansea, had walked past the house many times without noticing anything unusual[3]. On a Saturday in late March 2011, she was sitting in traffic with her boyfriend when she suddenly saw it. "I just said to him: 'That house looks like Hitler,'" she told the Express[6]. She snapped a photo on her iPhone and posted it to Twitter. Dickenson initially uploaded the image to the Comic Relief Twitter feed of comedian Armando Iannucci[1]. From there, comedian Chris Addison retweeted it, giving it its first significant boost[3]. But the real ignition came from Jimmy Carr, who reposted the photo with the caption: "Morning. Here's a house that looks like Hitler. Your welcome."[3] That single tweet turned Dickenson into a trending topic on Twitter and sent the image racing across the internet[6]. - **Platform:** Twitter - **Creator:** Charli Dickenson (photographer/original poster), Jimmy Carr (viral amplification) - **Date:** 2011 ## Overview The Hitler House is a three-bedroom semi-detached property on Fabian Way in Port Tennant, Swansea[6]. Its angular, sloping roof mimics the look of Hitler's infamous side-parted hairstyle, while the front door's dark lintel creates the impression of a toothbrush moustache[4]. The round-ish windows even suggest a pair of eyes. The overall effect is a building that, with a bit of imagination, looks like the face of the Nazi dictator staring back at you from the end of a terrace row. The meme belongs to the broader genre of pareidolia humor, where people find faces or familiar shapes in everyday objects. But this particular example hit harder than most because the resemblance was both specific and absurd enough to be genuinely funny[1]. ## How It Spread After Carr's tweet, the Hitler House photo spread rapidly. Hundreds of Carr's followers retweeted it, and within hours it was one of the most-discussed topics on Twitter[4]. News outlets across the UK picked up the story, including the Daily Mail, The Independent, HuffPost, the Daily Express, and Gawker[1][3][4][6]. Coverage reached as far as New Zealand[1]. The elderly pensioner living in the house was reportedly baffled by the sudden attention[4]. Neighbors took it in stride. One told the Daily Mail: "People are joking already, that the house is the third on the Reich and that we live on the western front"[6]. Another neighbor, Lyn Thomas, 25, admitted she'd lived two doors down for two years and never noticed anything strange about it before[6]. The viral moment quickly spawned a broader trend. The Daily Mail published a follow-up feature inviting readers to submit their own "house-a-likes," matching buildings to celebrity doppelgängers[5]. Properties were compared to Hillary Clinton, Gordon Brown, Tony Blair, David Cameron, Mike Tyson, Brian Blessed, and even a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle[5]. The Independent ran a similar feature under the headline "Walls have eyes: houses that look like people"[1]. What started as one woman's observation in traffic became a full-blown internet craze of architectural pareidolia. ## How to Use The Hitler House format is simple: find a building (or any object) that resembles a famous person's face, photograph it, and share the comparison. The humor works best when the resemblance is both unexpected and immediately obvious once pointed out. Common elements people look for include: - Roof lines or awnings that suggest hairstyles - Doors or windows that mimic facial features like eyes, noses, or mouths - Architectural details that accidentally evoke a recognizable person The format typically works as a single image with a caption identifying who the building looks like, though side-by-side comparisons with the actual person add to the effect[5]. ## Cultural Impact The Hitler House photo generated coverage from major UK tabloids and broadsheets within days of going viral[1][4][6]. HuffPost covered it for American audiences[3], and Gawker ran it as well[2]. The speed of its spread, from a casual iPhone snap to international news in under 48 hours, made it a textbook example of how Twitter could turn an ordinary observation into a global talking point in 2011. The "houses that look like celebrities" trend it kicked off became its own mini-genre online[5]. Politicians were especially popular targets. Buildings were matched to Tony Blair's wide-eyed enthusiasm, Gordon Brown's upturned grimace, and David Cameron's round features[5]. The trend also showed how one well-timed celebrity retweet (in this case, Jimmy Carr's) could be the difference between a post dying in obscurity and becoming a worldwide viral hit. ## Fun Facts - Charli Dickenson first posted the image to Armando Iannucci's Comic Relief Twitter feed, not her own personal account[1]. - The house is home to an elderly pensioner who had no idea why people were suddenly photographing their home[4]. - Neighbor Lyn Thomas lived two doors down for two years and only noticed the resemblance after it went viral[6]. - Jimmy Carr's famous tweet contained a grammar error: "Your welcome" instead of "You're welcome"[3]. - One neighbor joked that the house was "the third on the Reich"[6]. ## Frequently Asked Questions ### What is Hitler House? Hitler House is a viral photo of an end-of-terrace house in Port Tennant, Swansea, whose sloping roof and front door lintel look like Adolf Hitler's hair and moustache[4]. ### Where did Hitler House come from? Charli Dickenson, a 22-year-old from Swansea, photographed the house while stuck in traffic in March 2011 and posted it to Twitter[6]. ### What does Hitler House mean? It's a pareidolia joke, the human tendency to see faces in random objects. The house's architectural features accidentally resemble Hitler's distinctive hairstyle and facial hair[1]. ### How do you use Hitler House? Share an image of a building or object that looks like a famous person, typically with a caption identifying the resemblance. Side-by-side comparisons work best[5]. ### Is Hitler House still popular? The original photo is a well-known piece of early 2010s internet humor, though the "buildings that look like people" format still pops up whenever someone spots a new example[1]. ### Who made Hitler House go viral? Comedian Jimmy Carr retweeted Dickenson's photo with the caption "Morning. Here's a house that looks like Hitler," which sent it trending across Twitter[3]. ### Where is the actual Hitler House? The house is located on Fabian Way in Port Tennant, Swansea, Wales. It's a three-bedroom end-of-terrace property[6]. ### Who lives in the Hitler House? At the time of its viral fame in 2011, the house was home to an elderly pensioner who was reportedly confused by all the attention[4]. ### Did anyone else notice the house before Charli Dickenson? Dickenson herself had walked past it many times before without seeing the resemblance. She only noticed when she was sitting still in traffic[3]. ### Did the Hitler House trend lead to other celebrity comparisons? Yes. After the original went viral, people began matching buildings to politicians and celebrities including Tony Blair, Gordon Brown, Hillary Clinton, Mike Tyson, and Brian Blessed[5]. ## References 1. [Walls have eyes: houses that look like people | The Independent | The Independent]() 2. [Gawker | The Website]() 3. [House That Looks Like Hitler Becomes Viral Hit (PHOTO) | HuffPost Entertainment]() 4. [Hitler was right]() 5. [Hitler House - Urban Dictionary]() 6. [Swansea house looks like Hitler complete with naff side parting | Daily Mail Online]() 7. [A house with character: More buildings which look like celebrities | Daily Mail Online]() 8. [The house that looks like Hitler | Weird | News | Express.co.uk]() --- Source: https://meme.com/memes/hitler-house Published by meme.com — The Internet Meme Library