From the mysterious to the weird, old homes feature unusual details that you’d never find in new buildings. These features used to serve a purpose, but with the rise of refrigerators and electricity, they have faded into obscurity. If you’re lucky, you can still find some of these quirks in old houses.
Some of the features are hidden away, like a small slit inside a medicine cabinet. Others, like a lone toilet in the basement, are glaring and strange. Read on to learn about these antique house features and whether you can repurpose them.
Laundry Chutes Are Still Used Today
In houses with more than one story, a small door may connect the hallway to the laundry room. Laundry chutes are designed to relieve the burden of carrying laundry; instead, you toss it down the chute to be washed. They’re so handy that many people still install them today.
No one knows who invented the first laundry chute, or when. Newspaper articles describing early linen chutes date back to the 1890s. If your home has one, your laundry days are going to be a lot easier.
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Why There’s A Slit In Some Medicine Cabinets
In some old homes, a medicine cabinet includes a tiny slit that looks like a coin slot. It was actually used to deposit razors. Once people finished shaving, they would drop their used razor blades into the slot. Where would they go? Nowhere, really–just into the wall.
If you were to remove the medicine cabinet, you’d likely see all the discarded razors. Keep that in mind if you plan to have someone replace your old medicine cabinet. You don’t want an infection from a decades-old razor blade.
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A Second Staircase And Tucked Away Rooms
In some old, large homes, a second staircase may lead to smaller rooms within a basement and attic. These were known as servants’ quarters. In the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, servants lived in the same home as their masters. Servants’ quarters were built to keep the servants out of sight and out of mind.
In enormous mansions, these rooms would have elaborate pathways leading to the dining room and kitchen. Servants quarters were built into the twentieth century, when they featured spiral staircases and smaller rooms.
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Button Light Switches
Button light switches were common in the nineteenth century. The toggle light switch that we know today wasn’t invented until 1917. Because button light switches often got stuck, toggle switches became the new norm. If your house has button switches, you know it’s old.
Although they’ve been out of style for over 100 years, some people prefer the look of a button light switch. Designers have made new button switches built to modern safety standards. So if you want one, you can buy one!
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The Dumbwaiter, A Home’s Mini Elevator
Dumbwaiters are small freight elevators made to lift objects from one floor to another. You can recognize a dumbwaiter by its sliding door and the fact that it usually opens into the kitchen. In the 1840s, people used dumbwaiters to transfer food to a living room or bedroom.
Dumbwaiters are still used in some buildings today. They’re often installed in hospitals, retirement homes, and some restaurants to transport meals. Unlike antique dumbwaiters, modern ones come equipped with electric monitors and automatic control systems.
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That Tiny Thing Near The Front Door Is A Boot Scraper
In some homes, tiny iron ornaments stick up in front of the door. These are boot scrapers, which appeared in major cities during the seventeenth century. Boot-wearers would scrape the mud off of their shoes before walking through the front door. Nowadays, they only stub peoples’ toes.
Boot scrapers, called “decrottoir” in French, came in many shapes and sizes. Many include ornate spirals and designs, including animals. Usually, two boot scrapers would border the door at the end of a walkway. Perhaps you can still find an old boot scraper to use when it’s muddy outside.
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Milk Door: A Tiny Compartment In The Cabinets
If your house has a small cabinet with doors both inside and outside, it might be a milk door. Also called a milk chute, milk doors were built for milkmen to drop in daily milk. Like iceboxes, milk doors allowed homeowners to retrieve their daily milk without leaving their homes.
Milkmen usually delivered the drinks early in the morning so families could drink milk with breakfast. Sometimes, milkmen would deliver other products such as eggs, cheese, butter, and soft drinks. In the U.S., some families still have milk delivered today.
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Picture Rails Line The Walls And Ceiling
If your walls have small wooden railings near the ceiling, you may own a picture rail. In the 1840s, architects built these into homes to hang pictures. Art would dangle from a chain, and the hanging wouldn’t damage the wall. Many picture rails include movable hooks for paintings.
Picture rails became outdated by the 1940s. However, you can still install a picture rail if you want to save your walls from nails. Most picture rails are 1.5 to 2 inches wide and carved from wood, sometimes painted to accent the room.
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Murphy Beds, Also Called Wall Beds
Murphy beds are mattresses that store vertically against the wall. Also called wall beds or pull-out beds, they often come from a closet or cabinet. Although many people know Murphy beds from ’80s and ’90s sitcoms, they became popular in 1900s silent films (albeit under a different name).
Most homes don’t include built-in Murphy beds anymore. Although these beds save space, they declined in popularity during the ’90s and 2000s. However, they started to come back into style during the 2010s.
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Why There Are Windows Above The Front Door
Have you ever wondered why some doors include windows above the frame? These are transom windows, horizontal windows built to let in light. Before electricity became common, transom windows were installed to illuminate the entryway.
Transom windows are still popular today. Unlike newer designs, older transom windows could open to ventilate the home. Now that air conditioners are common, most transom windows don’t open. If yours do, they may be leftover from a previous generation.
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A Button In The Middle Of The Floor
Some homes may feature a seemingly random button on the wall or floor. These were servant buttons, an electric servant calling system that became popular in the late nineteenth century. Sometimes called “butler buttons,” these buttons signal a servant to attend the room.
Servant buttons litter the floor of some houses. Because architects couldn’t predict the table size the owner would use, placing the button on the floor guaranteed that the master could reach it. Today, most servant buttons are painted over or covered by a rug.
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That Separate Mini House Is A Summer Kitchen
Large estates in New England may have an outdoor barn that’s not connected to the main house. These barns come fully equipped with large fireplaces and stone ovens. They’re called summer kitchens, where servants and slaves would prepare big enough meals to feed everyone on the property.
Popular in the nineteenth century, summer kitchens were designed to keep the main house cool. Since all cooking was done on wood-burning stones and fireplaces, cooking in a separate house would prevent the family from overheating. Some summer kitchens included bedrooms for the servants and slaves.
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Why The Closet Along An Outside Wall Is Cold
If an old home has an outside closet that’s always cold, there’s a good reason for it. Cold closets–yes, that’s their official name–were designed to preserve fruits and vegetables. Unlike ice boxes, cold closets were built into the house before families had access to refrigerators.
Cold closets couldn’t keep produce frozen, but they could keep vegetables, cheese, and meats fresh for use. Especially during harvests, people would store herbs and produce in cold closets to prevent them from rotting. You can still use a cold closet if your refrigerator is full.
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What’s A Phone Jack?
As each day passes by, the less homes need a landline phone jack. For one, people just use their cell phone and it’s rare people have a home phone. For two, only internet service providers need it.
As more and more tech companies start releasing Wi-Fi devices, the land line will become even more obsolete. It’s only a matter of time before we live in a world where the land line won’t be needed at all.
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Please Explain Why You Still Have Floppy Disks
If you’re still living in the year 2000, then you don’t need to read this slide. Unfortunately, it’s 2020, so this applies to everyone. Why on Earth would you still have floppy disks in your home?
Anything you could have possibly learned from one of them is now on the internet for free. Please, do us, yourself, your grandchildren and your kids a favor and toss them out. We don’t need them anymore at this stage of life.
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Just Use Your Smartphone
Only the hipster kids can sort of get away with this one. Getting film developed is so twentieth century. The time has come for you to use your smart phone that has better quality than the best camera you purchased in 2010.
On a serious note, who develops film anymore if they aren’t into photography as a hobby or professionally? It’s a new day, so its time you realize stores probably won’t even develop your film anymore.
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Flip Your Old Phones For Money
One question; do you own an android of Apple phone? If you surprisingly answered no to that, we still need you to dispose of your box of flip phones. There are places where you can turn them in for money, too.
We’re not trying to be rude, but those ancient phones don’t bring anyone value anymore. In fact, if you have one, you might be up to no good because they’re considered “burner phones” in some communities.
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Are You An Explorer?
Unless your name is Dora The Explorer, it’s time to put to rest any physical maps you have lying around the house. There is, however, one case that would make having a physical map acceptable and that’s if you hang one on your wall.
Other than that, if they’re just loose in a drawer, closet or anywhere else, dump it. You have the internet, a phone, and your friend on speed dial in case you need help getting anywhere.
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Ever Heard Of Streaming?
If there were a word that amplified obsolete by 1000, that’s what we would use here. VCRs are completely useless these days thanks to streaming services. Even then, DVDs are second option.
There was a time when VCRs were the go-to devices to watch your favorite movie, but those days are far behind us now. Unless you want to live in perpetual nostalgia, then we advise you try and sell your machine for the most profit you can get.
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Hey, Your Fax From 1999 Just Sent
Well, this one is pretty self explanatory. With the internet being such a useful and powerful tool, the need of a fax flew out the window years and years ago.
Some companies still have fax machines in their offices, but you might never hear them in action. With that being the case, unless you’re communicating with someone from the past then you don’t need to have this machine in your home anymore. Do it for yourself.
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Yellow Pages? It’s Called Google
Who are you trying to fool? If you’re still flipping through hundreds of pages attempting to find that plumber’s number to come and fix your leak, you’re stuck in the past.
Hey, not all hope is lost. If you still have one in the house, you can always use it as a stepping tool if you’re too short. Maybe even put it on the seat of your car for a little added height as well.
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Your Phone Will Do Just Fine
Hey, we’re not judging anyone who still has a prehistoric alarm clock. Who cares if you can voice control your smart phone to set an alarm at any point you wish.
The classic alarm clocks can come in handy for those heavy sleepers out there. Just place it on the other side of the room, so when it goes off, you have to physically get up to shut that noisy thing off. Seriously, you don’t need one.
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Throw Them Like A Frisbee
Now, this one is a bit tougher. Thanks to music streaming services, the need for anything other than headphones and a smart device makes owning CDs a thing of the past.
While it’s tougher to find VHS cartridges, you can still buy CDs at almost any electronics store. Some people do like popping them into their car stereo for that nostalgic feel, but no one needs them anymore. If you see any on your floor, feel free to toss them.
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