As always, there is more to the story than just houses. According to the Globe article, the small cluster of houses in the area had, for decades, shared a walkway to a beach. It turns out that the walkway is owned by three of the properties, including the one with the new house on it. The owners of the new house declared that their ownership rights included the right to restrict use of the walkway in ways that they proceeded to pronounce. The long-standing homeowners in the area did not agree. And so,

“In June 2004, with their house just completed, the [new owners] put up a fence - a waist-high, wooden barrier with a “No Trespassing” sign - that blocks Melville Walk…”

“A month later, when the [new owners] moved in, 17 neighbors were waiting for them on the beach, holding a silent vigil. [The new owners] called the police…”

“Two months later, [neighbors] who had enjoyed boating off the beach for 33 years, sued..”

The quoted reaction of the new owner? “If you havn’t been here for 50 years, they hate you. They hate new people. They hate young people. They hate people whose house is bigger than theirs.”

Tomorrow: “We love Hingham”