Why do some apartments have two unit doors and two separate common hall ways / stair wells? What was the thinking behind this design? Was it a fire code thing? I've always been curious.
Apartments With Two Doors
- Thread starter Chetlaham
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Apartment houses built during certain period of time (usually pre-war) and for middle and upper income families often had two entrances, same as private homes. One for the family, their guests and other "upstairs" persons. Then there was a second entrance for service/trade persons along with servants and deliveries.
In apartment buildings service entrance usually leads to kitchen area and is also where one usually finds halls or areas with "service elevator", trash chutes/compactors, etc.. Think of it as a "back door", so to speak.
Post WWII as ideas of what constituted gracious living, and or cost of servants forced many families to go without idea of a second "service entrance" went by the boards. However there are still thousands of older multi-family buildings that still have second doors if you will.
In apartment buildings service entrance usually leads to kitchen area and is also where one usually finds halls or areas with "service elevator", trash chutes/compactors, etc.. Think of it as a "back door", so to speak.
Post WWII as ideas of what constituted gracious living, and or cost of servants forced many families to go without idea of a second "service entrance" went by the boards. However there are still thousands of older multi-family buildings that still have second doors if you will.
I've not seen it before where both doors enter from a common hallway. Normally the secondary door leads to a back hallway or porch/balcony. Fire codes and common sense dictate there be more than one way out of a unit. The house I lived in as a small child had three apartments, one per floor. Ours on the first floor had three exterior doors - one to the front porch, one to the back stairs, and one to a side porch. The other units each had a door to the front stairwell, and one to the back. It was built in 1903, and was originally a large single family home. The current owners use the lower two floors, and rent out the top.
Most likely fire and convenience. The latest I've seen this is in apartments built into the late 60s.
@circlew: The two common stair cases are separate from one another. The living room door eventually leads to the front of the unit, while the kitchen door leads to the back of the unit. I've found this interesting because most apartments built into the 70s onward only had one common hallway and one door per unit. I like the prior to be honest.
@circlew: The two common stair cases are separate from one another. The living room door eventually leads to the front of the unit, while the kitchen door leads to the back of the unit. I've found this interesting because most apartments built into the 70s onward only had one common hallway and one door per unit. I like the prior to be honest.
As I recall, when I was a teen, my mom moved to Stonestown Apartments in San Francisco. There were two doors on most of these: one to the kitchen, and one to the living room. Same with ours.
The kitchen staircase led to the garbage bins, which could also be used to reach the ground. The living room one, which was adjacent, led to the "main entrance", also leading to the ground.
I recall I was there for about a year. After I left and went off to university, my mom moved again, into the avenues (I think it was around 6th Avenue).
@Sudmaster: Exactly what I was thinking of. The Kitchen does lead to the waste bin, laundry room and back court yard area. I really like the concept to be honest. You can almost dress casual and go about your chores through one stair well and dress up nice and go out on the town through the other. Really neat and sanitary concept.
justjunque
Well-known member
The house that I grew up in is a three story apartment house, owned by my parents. We always thought of it as our "house", as opposed to an apartment. And, except for a brief time, it was all occupied by family members.
The floor plan has all rooms going off from a large center kitchen. The front door leads to the hall/stairway. The first and second floors each have two doorways that lead to the hallway; one off the kitchen, and one off the living room. As long as my parents have lived there, which goes back to 1968, the doorways off the living rooms were covered with drywall and/or paneling.
All three floors also have a door off of the kitchen that leads to a side stairway and porches. And, only the third floor has a door off the living room that goes directly to the front porch. The other two floors access their front porches from the hallway.
I believe the house was built in the late 1920s or very early 1930s.
The floor plan has all rooms going off from a large center kitchen. The front door leads to the hall/stairway. The first and second floors each have two doorways that lead to the hallway; one off the kitchen, and one off the living room. As long as my parents have lived there, which goes back to 1968, the doorways off the living rooms were covered with drywall and/or paneling.
All three floors also have a door off of the kitchen that leads to a side stairway and porches. And, only the third floor has a door off the living room that goes directly to the front porch. The other two floors access their front porches from the hallway.
I believe the house was built in the late 1920s or very early 1930s.
Have any TV shows shown any examples of such? I lived in an apartment and it had a sliding door, and have driven by sort of shotgun designs that would have had backdoors for, while a few I'd been in, particularly studio apartments made do with one door, or at least ones on upper floors had balconies...
-- Dave
-- Dave
