The Cat House is a building in Riga's Old City, decorated with two black cats on the top of it's tower. The building was made by F.Shefel in 1909, using Jugendstyle elements. A story tells that the Latvian owner of the building was excluded from the powerful Big Guild across the road by its ethnocentric German occupants. To show his anger, he decided to put the cats on the roof with their backs to City Council as an insult to his enemies. They were turned around after a lengthy court battle and he was eventually admitted to the Guild. The photos were taken on June 30, 2009.