Property Rights: A Man's Caboose Is Not His Castle

A man's home may be his castle, but if he riles the neighbors, they may have a lot more say about the place than he does. William M. Phillips, feature editor of the Miami Herald, learned that expensive lesson when he decided to install a railroad caboose in his backyard. Phillips' family had outgrown his one-bedroom house, and he needed cheap, additional living space for his three children. What he got was a blizzard of bills that have now hit $10,000 and an endless zoning suit that has become the longest in the history of Florida's Dade County. Even...

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