House of the Day: 51 Midwood Street

I can’t imagine that the original owners of this house ever ate their meals on the ground floor. That was for the staff, no? Unless the staff and the owners took turns eating in the same room, the staff prepared the owners’ meals on the ground floor and brought them up to the butler’s pantry to be served in the dining room on the parlor floor. At least that’s what I’ve always been led to believe.

Thanks, Bob. BTW, do you know if the limestone Hedmans on Maple between Bedford and Rogers (you know, the ones with the red tile “hats”) originally had kitchens in the basement, or were the kitchens up on the parlor level? Those houses have very low basements, so I would guess the kitchens would be upstairs.

OK, re-doing a sentence from two posts up:

“That seems closer to what I was imagining, although the “room in the front” in my scenario is the dining room, and the two rooms upstairs are both parlors.”

I realized that the original version of the sentence made it sound like Bob thought this was an English basement, when in fact he had a different idea in mind.

Bob, I have to admit I’ve heard so many different definitions of “English basement” that I really don’t know what’s what. I found the article I referred to earlier, and Mr. Gray said that English basements were found in houses “entered via four or five steps, with a reception hall in the front of the ground floor and a dining room at the rear. A kitchen and laundry were placed in the cellar – rendering them quite dark – and the principal floor, the second level, contained the parlor.” That doesn’t seem to match what either you or I had in mind. He then went on to describe the typical “brownstone” arrangement as having a floor “slightly below grade, with a room at the front and a kitchen at the rear – and fairly good light. It was essentially a service floor, directly accessible from the street for deliveries and tradesmen. The owner and family had to mount a high stoop of 10 to 12 steps to the main entrance, leading to a parlor in the front and a dining room at the back.” That seems closer to what you and I were imagining, although the “room in the front” in both of our scenarios is the dining room, and the two rooms upstairs are both parlors.

In any case, today’s HOTD seems to be a transitional design that still kept the kitchen downstairs despite having three separate parlor rooms upstairs. As I mentioned in my previous post, by the early 1900s the lower level was often replaced with a cellar, the butler’s pantry was expanded into a full kitchen and the rear parlor became a dining room, effectively bringing all daytime activity up to the parlor floor.

Additionally, it is illegal in NYC to have a full kitchen (meaning with a stove) or a full bath (with a tub; shower stalls OK) in an English basement.