Old home - 2 front doors - anyone know why? (roof, phone, living room)

[mrs1885]

I've noticed in this area (very rural middle TN) there are a ton of old homes that have two front doors. Most of them have a front porch that runs the length of the house. They've got a very simple roof line - no dormers, no areas that stick out or anything. Just a very plain box shaped home, but two front doors.

Here's one I snapped a picture of on the way to work today. Again, camera phone so not that great:

[Sudcaro]

Well, maybe there were two homes in the past?

[TexasHorseLady]

Our older (build sometime between 1900-1930) house has two front doors, and my grandparents' house (built much later) did, as well. In both cases, one front door went into the living room, and the other went into a bedroom. We now use that former bedroom as an office, but that was its original intended use. I'm guessing it was to allow some autonomy to whatever almost-grown or grown child used that bedroom.

Both houses are in different parts of rural Texas.

[Uconn97]

From what I have read....In older homes - built in the 1800's - the two doors were used by the family - one door for everyday family functions and the other was used to access the more formal areas of the home (like the parlor) for when you had guests.

[desertsun41]

To me it looks like it is or once was a duplex. But ya know what? I remember a thread identical to this from quite some time ago on the subject of 2 front doors. I remember many ideas but no conclusions to the mystery.

[BlueyedCat]

Originally Posted by TexasHorseLady

Our older (build sometime between 1900-1930) house has two front doors, and my grandparents' house (built much later) did, as well. In both cases, one front door went into the living room, and the other went into a bedroom. We now use that former bedroom as an office, but that was its original intended use. I'm guessing it was to allow some autonomy to whatever almost-grown or grown child used that bedroom.

Both houses are in different parts of rural Texas.

I agree. I had an old home in Louisiana that had the two front doors. One door went into a Bedroom and the other door went into the Living area. The main house only had 4 rooms. The front two were the bedroom and living room. It also had the front porch on the front. The other two were the kitchen and dining area. Later they added more bedrooms and bathrooms.

[exsci teacher]

Not sure this is the reason but my 1856 farmhouse in New York had 3 normal doors and one extra wide door that my neighbors called the funeral door to allow the casket and bearers to get out.

[mrs1885]

Originally Posted by exsci teacher

Not sure this is the reason but my 1856 farmhouse in New York had 3 normal doors and one extra wide door that my neighbors called the funeral door to allow the casket and bearers to get out.

Wow. That's a kinda creepy thought!!

From what I've read it seems like no one can come up with any conclusive reason why. Though the most common answer is that one door was for family and one was for receiving guests and for Sunday use in their best dressed.

Interesting that no one can really make a firm decision on why it was done this way though. It wasn't all that long ago that they were built.

[BlueyedCat]

Originally Posted by mrs1885

Wow. That's a kinda creepy thought!!

From what I've read it seems like no one can come up with any conclusive reason why. Though the most common answer is that one door was for family and one was for receiving guests and for Sunday use in their best dressed.

Interesting that no one can really make a firm decision on why it was done this way though. It wasn't all that long ago that they were built.

They were used mainly for family using one and the other for receiving guests. My neighbor had one also and she told me that years ago they didn't have air so on the hot nights; they would open the doors to let more air in. The porch was screened in all the way around. They were especially handy during spring cleaning and airing the house out.

[BlueyedCat]

mrs1885, check this out.

Two Front Doors