On 14/03/2019 19:00, Fredxx wrote:
On 14/03/2019 18:51, DerbyBorn wrote:
Why is the bit that usually has the kitchen and small back bedroom at a
lower level than the rest of the house? Was it just cost saving or was it
to so with roof construction

Are we talking of Victorian style houses?

In which case the rear room would have been the kitchen diner with a
open fire, and what is now the kitchen would have been a scullery. Being
wet, it would have been lower than the rest of the house.


Yes, the main body of the house would be suspended wooden floors. IME
the back room would be the main living room, the front room kept for
best (unused most of the time!), and the kitchen/scullery a step down
onto brick or quarry tile on earth. If there was a floor above that, it
would have lower ceilings than the rest of the upper floor.

I don't know why, but much of the old Victorian housing in Reading is
like that.

51.455429° -0.944911° in Google Earth for example, some with a first
floor, some without.

Cheers
--
Clive