There are are a lot of Craftsman style homes in my Texas neighborhood. Mine is from the 1930’s. They have boxy, four-square floor plans and are quite charming. Many of them have a door that exits to the outside directly from the master bedroom. An architect friend of mine says that’s called a “Gentleman’s Door.” He says it’s so the Gentleman or Gentlemen can leave discreetly without going back through the main part of the house.
I said, “Where are they going?” He just shrugged and said, “Out.”
So you have a front door and a kitchen/backdoor, and the master bedroom, which is one of the squares of the four-square, extends out just enough for a single door/exit on the side of the house, right into the driveway.
Has anyone ever heard of this explanation for that door? And if so, where are those Gentlemen going? Out to smoke, gamble, pee? Presumably if he’s leaving a woman in bed, she’ll notice that he’s going. Maybe it was so a man could arrive and leave without a servant having to let him in and out the front door? Many of these houses, including mine, have servants quarters (just a small bedroom and bathroom) next to the garage.
Not sure if this is the correct forum. Move if necessary.
My first thought when you said “Gentleman’s Door” was that it was to accommodate the whims of the lady of the house–her suitor could scoot out if necessary.
But, I doubt that was part of the culture back then…
I love craftsman architecture and have lived in a few houses like that, but I’ve never seen or heard of this door. Interesting inquiry.
It’s not so they could leave discreetly, it was so they could return discreetly. When husbands were out with the guys and coming home late at night, this allowed them come into their house directly into their bedroom, without potentially waking up the kids etc.
My grandad got up and went for coffee every morning at 5:30. Visit with his friends and go to work in the oil fields. He still did that after retiring, except he’d come home by 7. Grandmother still snoozing away in bed.
A door directly off the bedroom would have been convenient to avoid going through the house.
Thelmalou, does that bedroom door go out to a wrap around porch? I can see how nice it would be to enter the bedroom directly off a porch. Or sit out there for coffee in the mornings.
If it goes directly into the yard then… I’m not sure why the door is there.
That’s exactly what my suspicion was; the only reason I could come up with for the man of the house needing to avoid the entry or dining areas would be because of guests that he was politely trying to avoid.
ah thanks to aceplace57 too. i did not know anything about the US “Arts and crafts” movement. Shameful as i make arts and crafts sort of things!..thanks !
" Have nothing in your houses that you do not know to be useful or believe to be beautiful.” as William Morris said…
Maybe I’m just not following but what is the benefit to avoid going through the house. Every place I’ve ever lived, the exterior doors are far noisier to open/close than the interior doors. And I don’t know who might have been living with your grandparents at that age, but I can imagine the interior bedroom door not even being closed if no one else was there. Why not leave and return to the bedroom silently through the interior door if your grandmother was still asleep rather than opening and closing an exterior door coming and going?
Total WAG, but back then people died and also gave birth, including stillbirth, at home. Something to do with situations where genteel folk wouldn’t want traffic through the front parlor or the kitchen?
The gentleman’s door is a small door from the master bedroom directly to outside the house. This is a one story house. Coming and going through that door wouldn’t disturb anyone, probably not even the woman in the bed. Also, if there was a servant, the coming and going would be done without her knowledge.
Here’s the floor plan. You can see the door off the master bedroom, top right.
