A pair of San Francisco neighbors have been engaged in a bitter, 15-year legal feud — over a row of windows offering a gorgeous view of the bay that one resident claims encroaches on her property.

If you live in a city, gazing out your window at a brick wall or weed-clogged vacant lot is not uncommon. Suburbanites, too, deal with ugly views—of car-strewn driveways or masonry walls. Anyone can, ...