Mysterious Interior Window and Skylight
I live in a 2 family brownstone in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn. In the middle of the house is a small room (den). On the first floor there is a closet, inside I found a sky light looking up into the room above it. I noticed a previouse owner borded something up in the ceiling, I…
I live in a 2 family brownstone in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn. In the middle of the house is a small room (den). On the first floor there is a closet, inside I found a sky light looking up into the room above it. I noticed a previouse owner borded something up in the ceiling, I was suprised to find a window when i tore the board down. Now on the 2nd floor where the closet should be is just a wall… I was wondering if this was perhaps boarded up? Why is there a window on the ceiling of the closet on the first floor if it doesn’t seem to serve any purpose to the room on top of it? Any help would be well appriciated.
thanks
My guess would be that it’s an old dumbwaiter shaft. Homes in the neighborhood still have them.
If this house is a turn of the 20th century townhouse, what your seeing is the original airshaft that was probably converted to a closet. These homes built before air conditioning had an air shaft in the middle to pull cool air up and send the hot air out the top. The skylight has a vent on top. Along this airshaft there were probably internal windows at one time. Some people close them up, and the fire department wishes they were all closed up and seperated because in fires, the flames race up these shafts and spread quickly. The same for old dumbwaiter shafts, usually located right next to these airshafts. Usually next to these interior windows and shafts are bathrooms and kitchens.