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Tuesday, November 22, 2022
2022.1122.0002...
Early 1900s...
(The kitchen must be in a separate building out back.)
1862 is very similar to the house we lived in during my grade school years, except the bedrooms and bathrooms were flipped (baths at the back of the house) and the family and dining rooms were swapped.
I don't know about the kitchen but I know where my mother was in her childhood home their bathroom was adjacent to the house. While it was connected you still had to go out the door to get to it even though it was attached to the house.
I find these old house plans fascinating. Not just the first one with no visible kitchen, but the second one that has a little hallway off of the kitchen marked “toilet.” What’s going on here? It has no fixtures, so were you supposed to piss on the floor? I’m aware that the phrase “make one’s toilet” meant to groom oneself, but this little hallway couldn’t be used for that, either, and by the early 1900s, the word “toilet” had its modern meaning.
You know I like to research things. Wikipedia says that the water closet (toilet) started to be built into middle-class homes in the 1860s and 1870s, first on the bedroom floor. “A toilet would also be placed outside the back door of the kitchen for use by gardeners and other outside staff.” That suggests that this little back hallway was a toilet for the servants.
And then the light bulb went on in my head. Servants! That’s why these old designs have a huge dining room and a miserably small kitchen (or no visible kitchen at all). In these upper-class houses, the kitchen was not used by the homeowners; it was used by the servants (i.e. the cook). The huge beautiful dining room was used by the homeowners. If the kitchen was small, or outside, or in the basement, who cared? It was only used by the servants.
The first picture---Did I read it right---5 bedrooms and one bathroom---Yes, the kitchen---In DC many of the older, older row houses had kitchens in the basement with a small eating area---Many had a dumb waiter that would bring the food up to the dining room---I always hated homes with garages prominently situated in the front of the house----I want to take them and flip them to the back or separate from the house----
The kitchen may have been in the basement.
ReplyDeleteHere in Province of Québec many very old houses had a special kitchen called summer kitchen that was part of the house but aside it.
ReplyDeleteFor summer times those wood stoves would heat the house during hot summer times.
In winter they used the inside kitchen to help heating all the house.
$6000 in 1905 is equivalent to $203,000 today. I'm pretty sure it would cost at least ten times that to build that house now.
ReplyDeleteMany of the old Victorian houses had an outbuilding kitchen and / or located in the basement.
ReplyDeleteLove the Mid-century Modern and Craftsman style.
1862 is very similar to the house we lived in during my grade school years, except the bedrooms and bathrooms were flipped (baths at the back of the house) and the family and dining rooms were swapped.
ReplyDeletehttps://www.voenixrising.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/plan9.jpg
I don't know about the kitchen but I know where my mother was in her childhood home their bathroom was adjacent to the house. While it was connected you still had to go out the door to get to it even though it was attached to the house.
ReplyDeleteAnon@6:37am - Oh gosh. I totally didn't think of the basement. What a huge chore to bring the hot food up.
ReplyDeleteJiEL & Pat - Yes, either inside or outside.
Anon@7:02am - I'm sure you're right.
Mark - Thanks for the link!
Maddie - What an odd arrangement.
I find these old house plans fascinating. Not just the first one with no visible kitchen, but the second one that has a little hallway off of the kitchen marked “toilet.” What’s going on here? It has no fixtures, so were you supposed to piss on the floor? I’m aware that the phrase “make one’s toilet” meant to groom oneself, but this little hallway couldn’t be used for that, either, and by the early 1900s, the word “toilet” had its modern meaning.
ReplyDeleteYou know I like to research things. Wikipedia says that the water closet (toilet) started to be built into middle-class homes in the 1860s and 1870s, first on the bedroom floor. “A toilet would also be placed outside the back door of the kitchen for use by gardeners and other outside staff.” That suggests that this little back hallway was a toilet for the servants.
And then the light bulb went on in my head. Servants! That’s why these old designs have a huge dining room and a miserably small kitchen (or no visible kitchen at all). In these upper-class houses, the kitchen was not used by the homeowners; it was used by the servants (i.e. the cook). The huge beautiful dining room was used by the homeowners. If the kitchen was small, or outside, or in the basement, who cared? It was only used by the servants.
-Larry
The first picture---Did I read it right---5 bedrooms and one bathroom---Yes, the kitchen---In DC many of the older, older row houses had kitchens in the basement with a small eating area---Many had a dumb waiter that would bring the food up to the dining room---I always hated homes with garages prominently situated in the front of the house----I want to take them and flip them to the back or separate from the house----
ReplyDelete@ Larry - Yep...they didn't much care about the servants comfort...their toilets were usually placed outside the main structure.
ReplyDeleteLarry - Thanks for the info you shared with us.
ReplyDeleteVRCooper - There is a trend where they're putting the garage in back.