What was a trunk room?

Trunk room: a dedicated storage room in the attic of an upscale victorian house where trunks were stored between trips abroad. They typically fitted out an attic with a few finished rooms, a trunk room, a cedar closet, and if needed a maids room.

What was a trunk room used for?

Trunk rooms stored bulky luggage in Victorian homes between trips abroad. Telephone rooms gave privacy to those on a call. Many of these features have fallen as much to the wayside as the hoop skirts and top hats worn by those who owned those homes during their peak popularity.

Why did old houses have small rooms?

Since most modest homes tended to consist of one open room—and even larger houses had only a few large rooms—closets were used to conduct private meetings, to dress, and sometimes to bathe (before indoor bathrooms were commonplace). They were also used for prayer and/or meditation and sometimes for sleeping.

What is a dressing room in an old house?

These closets are sometimes called “dressing rooms” in historic house museums because that is one type of private activity that would have been be carried out in them, but that is not the only way they functioned.

Why are bedrooms upstairs in old houses?

Bedrooms are often upstairs because they are private from guests and other people in the house. However, this is just the beginning. To go more in-depth and to explain this phenomenon and paint an entire picture – read on.

#21SWK 09 TRUNK ROOM BAG 47L HD 1080p

Why do old houses have 1 bathroom?

Because of the plumbing involved, installing walls and such for bedrooms was significantly less expensive than constructing bathrooms. So, the most straightforward answer is that having more than one bathroom was too expensive.

Why do old houses have sinks in bedrooms?

I lived in a large victorian home some years ago and every bedroom had a sink in the corner It was actually very useful when we only had one bathroom. It meant we could wash our faces, brush teeth etc in the privacy of our own rooms and not clog up the bathroom with people attempting to do the same.

Why did old houses have so many rooms?

Historically, each room tended to have a very particular use, so it was advantageous to keep them separate. There was a practical element to this, too: The ability to close doors between rooms also helped heat and cool the home—no sense wasting energy in rooms weren't being used.

What was a Victorian dressing room?

The furniture of a lady's dressing-room should consist of a low dressing-bureau, a washstand, an easy-chair, placed in front of the dressing-bureau, one or two other chairs, a sofa or couch if the space admits, and a large wardrobe if there are insufficient closet conveniences.

Did Victorian homes have closets?

Most Victorian houses had no or minimal closets because of a legal quirk involving tax technicalities: houses tended to be taxed according to the number of rooms they contained, and for tax purposes, a closet counted as a room, so builders kept closets to a minimum to reduce tax costs.

Whats a milk door?

Common in the first half of the last century, the milk door was a spot built into the exterior of a house for the delivery of bottled milk from local dairies.

What is a coffin door?

Most frequently associated with 18th and early 19th-century houses in Connecticut, the coffin door is an exterior door located on the side of the house and typically situated near a corner of the side wall.

Why do old doors have windows above doors?

Transom windows are those panels of glass you see above doors in old homes, especially those built in the Mission or Arts and Crafts styles. They admitted natural light to front hallways and interior rooms before the advent of electricity, and circulated air even when doors were closed for privacy.

What is a trunk room old houses?

Trunk room: a dedicated storage room in the attic of an upscale victorian house where trunks were stored between trips abroad. They typically fitted out an attic with a few finished rooms, a trunk room, a cedar closet, and if needed a maids room.

Why did old homes not have closets?

When it comes to older homes, many of them lack architectural space, such as closets. When many of these historical homes were built, they lacked closet space because people did not own as many pairs of clothing. This reduced the need for closet space.

Why are old houses so dark?

As it turns out, not only were paint colors limited in early America, but many houses were left unpainted. The wood became a dark, weathered brown. Of course, there is a reason we paint wood–protection from the elements–so today, this is often represented by a dark brown paint color.

What did Victorian bedrooms look like?

The first distinguishing feature that defines a Victorian bedroom is that it would have a fireplace, unlike this room in both the period before and the period after. In the preceeding periods, inhabitants would rely on thick blankets to keep warm and later in history, on cast iron radiators and electric heaters.

What were rooms called in the 1800s?

They included such rooms as billiard-rooms, boudoirs, breakfast or luncheon-rooms, conservatories, dining-rooms, drawing-rooms, gentlemen's odd-rooms, gentlemen or business-rooms, libraries, parlor dining-rooms, morning-rooms, saloons, sitting-rooms, smoking-rooms, and studies. Boudoir of Louis XVI's time period.

Did houses in the 1800s have closets?

In the late 1800s and early 1900s, closets became the preferred clothing solution in early American culture. In fact, the first closets built and advertised date back to The Dakota apartment building in New York City. In the 1870s, The Dakota used closets to appeal to wealthy tenets.

Why are there 2 front doors on old houses?

Two doors indicated that the house probably had more than one room, which was a real symbol of prosperity for the American pioneer class. This reason makes sense when you consider that many midcentury homes (and even today's houses) make a show of the number of garage doors attached to the dwelling.

Why do old houses have 10 foot ceilings?

At first, taller ceilings were offered as extras, but soon 9 feet became standard, so much so that drywall manufacturers started producing 4½–foot-wide sheets. Not be outdone, the builders of custom homes went to 10 feet. Something similar happened to office buildings.

Why are doors so short in England?

In medieval times, people lived on floors that was about 1.5 meters (5 feet) high. A person with normal height would be able to enter such a house without problem. As floor levels rose, so did doorway heights. By the 19th century, an average London residence had a door over 2 meters (6.5 feet) high.

Why are English bedrooms so small?

There are two reasons why most British houses are so small: first, they were built before building regulations required larger homes; second, they're still being used for income rather than occupancy purposes, so owners don't need that much space.

Why is there a sink in the hallway?

The sink was used to rinse out mops and rags, along with dumping dirty mop water and filling a bucket with fresh water. This made work easier for a housekeeper and kept dirt out of the kitchen or bathroom sinks. Mop sinks may also be referred to as a butler's sink.

When were bathrooms added to houses?

By 1920, the majority of new construction included indoor plumbing and at least one full bathroom. By 1930, the shelter magazines often remarked on the need for a second bathroom. Pre-1900 homes were subject to remodeling and bathroom additions even if that meant adding a toilet and sink out on the back porch.