# Gone With the Wind-Architectural question **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 17, 2009, 1:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gone-with-the-wind-architectural-question/496700 "2009-05-17T01:26:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2009, 1:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gone-with-the-wind-architectural-question/496700/1 "2009-05-17T01:26:14Z")
What was under that big red staircase at Tara? ---
**Author:** ![Sateryn76](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e4f/32.png) [@Sateryn76](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sateryn76)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2009, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gone-with-the-wind-architectural-question/496700/2 "2009-05-17T14:42:33Z")
I don’t know for sure, but I bet it was the kitchen/servant’s quarters. The dining room was off to the right, and I don’t know if they ever went into what was off to the left. The ballroom, bedrooms, etc., were on the second floor. Since they were rich, rich, rich, they would have no need to enter the kitchen, and it would have to be a big kitchen. And, since this was pre-refrigeration/processing, they would need large pantries for food storage of various kinds. That, along with small rooms for Pork, Mammy, Prissy, etc., would take up an entire floor. ---
**Author:** ![ivylass](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/9de053/32.png) [@ivylass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivylass)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2009, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gone-with-the-wind-architectural-question/496700/3 "2009-05-17T15:01:23Z")
I think Mammy slept in the house. When she was Solange’s maid, she slept at the foot of the bed. She was always a house maid, never a yard n----r (hey, that’s how Mitchell described it.) You have to remember the house in the movie was not the house in the book. The book Tara was just a thrown together house, won in a poker game, with rooms added on as needed. I would presume under the staircase was storage, and maybe a cubby for one of the maids to sleep in. Or are you referring to Rhett and Scarlett’s house in Atlanta? That, in the book, was designed by Scarlett after a Swiss chalet (by Rhett’s reaction to her, I presume Scarlett mispronounced the word, after all she didn’t know who the Borgias were except they were foreigners) and I would guess it was a free-standing staircase (is that the right term?) ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2009, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gone-with-the-wind-architectural-question/496700/4 "2009-05-17T15:05:34Z")
> [@ivylass](#): > > Or are you referring to Rhett and Scarlett’s house in Atlanta? Oops. The one he carries her up and she falls down. ---
**Author:** ![ivylass](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/9de053/32.png) [@ivylass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivylass)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2009, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gone-with-the-wind-architectural-question/496700/5 "2009-05-17T15:11:13Z")
That’s their house in Atlanta. Scarlett wanted a great big one to make the Old Guard pea-green with envy, not realizing she was spitting in their faces. I got the impression the staircase was supported by the second floor, so no need for support under it that would need to be hidden by closets and such. Oh, **Sampiro** …you of the killer GWTW trivia contests…hello? ---
**Author:** ![Sateryn76](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e4f/32.png) [@Sateryn76](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sateryn76)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2009, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gone-with-the-wind-architectural-question/496700/6 "2009-05-17T16:20:03Z")
> [@Sateryn76](#): > > I don’t know for sure, but I bet it was the kitchen/servant’s quarters. The dining room was off to the right, and I don’t know if they ever went into what was off to the left. The ballroom, bedrooms, etc., were on the second floor. > > Since they were rich, rich, rich, they would have no need to enter the kitchen, and it would have to be a big kitchen. And, since this was pre-refrigeration/processing, they would need large pantries for food storage of various kinds. That, along with small rooms for Pork, Mammy, Prissy, etc., would take up an entire floor. Just for the record - I was talking about the Atlanta house, too. There’s no mistaking that red staircase! ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2009, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gone-with-the-wind-architectural-question/496700/7 "2009-05-17T21:19:02Z")
From repeated watchings I don’t think there really is a clear floor plan. Having built several sets for theater productions I can tell you that you often have to just go with what’s available and what works and don’t worry if it makes sense and I would imagine movies and TV are similar (which is why so few homes on TV series make sense- especially if it’s a series shot before a live audience). I think that Scarlett’s chambers are to the right of the stairs and Rhett’s are somewhere to the left. Like Ivy said the book calls it a chalet but in the movie it looks a lot more Second Empire, though it also reminds me of the staircases in [The Breakers](http://www.newyorksocialdiary.com/i/partypictures/08_18_08/BreakersREception.jpg) (the Cornelius Vanderbilt II mansion in Newport). In that one there’s a horizontal hallway behind the staircase, which is probably the case here because the room where Rhett is drinking is behind and to the left of the staircase as you face it. I’ll mention “just because” that the book goes a lot more into detail about her miscarriage. In the movie it’s just a fall down the stairs that causes it but as most people who’ve studied the matter know many, probably most, pregnant women could take a fall without any serious damage- a fetus is extremely well protected against falls. In the novel however it mentions that while falling she has a freak accident, landing on the edge of a step in such a way that it breaks her ribcage which punctures her lung and causes pneumonia, and the baby is lost during this illness. No idea if, given the medical procedures of the time, this would inhibit her ability to give birth to another child (though in my own unauthorized sequel it’s a plot point ;)- motherhood wasn’t what Scarlett did particularly well and I didn’t think it’d be realistic for her to try pregnancy again anyway). ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2009, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gone-with-the-wind-architectural-question/496700/8 "2009-05-18T16:05:37Z")
The staircase is there to continue the staircase motif of the book. Rhett first sees Scarlett when she is coming down the staircase. Rhett proposes after the tipsy Scarlett comes down the staircase Rhett carries Scarlett up the staircase for a night of rough sex. Scarlett falls down the same staircase causing her miscarriage. Rhett goes down the staircase to leave her. ---
**Author:** ![ivylass](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/9de053/32.png) [@ivylass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivylass)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2009, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gone-with-the-wind-architectural-question/496700/9 "2009-05-18T16:43:48Z")
Scarlett confronts Prissy about her “knowledge” about “birthin’ babies” and gives her a huge slap…on the staircase. ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2009, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gone-with-the-wind-architectural-question/496700/10 "2009-05-18T16:48:00Z")
> [@Annie-Xmas](#): > > The staircase is there to continue the staircase motif of the book. > > Rhett first sees Scarlett when she is coming down the staircase. > Rhett proposes after the tipsy Scarlett comes down the staircase > Rhett carries Scarlett up the staircase for a night of rough sex. > Scarlett falls down the same staircase causing her miscarriage. > Rhett goes down the staircase to leave her. And Carol Burnett floats regally down the same staircase with her new…uh, outfit. ---
**Author:** ![Sateryn76](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e4f/32.png) [@Sateryn76](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sateryn76)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2009, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gone-with-the-wind-architectural-question/496700/11 "2009-05-18T17:29:50Z")
> [@ivylass](#): > > Scarlett confronts Prissy about her “knowledge” about “birthin’ babies” and gives her a huge slap…on the staircase. Nitpick…That was at Aunt Pitty Pat’s house on Peachtree ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2009, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gone-with-the-wind-architectural-question/496700/12 "2009-05-18T19:06:58Z")
> [@Sateryn76](#): > > Nitpick…That was at Aunt Pitty Pat’s house on Peachtree You’re good. I could have figured out it was Pitty Pats, but not remember the street. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Bridget\_Burke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7cd45c/32.png) [@Bridget\_Burke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bridget_Burke)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2009, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gone-with-the-wind-architectural-question/496700/13 "2009-05-18T19:14:29Z")
> [@carnivorousplant](#): > > You’re good. I could have figured out it was Pitty Pats, but not remember the street. > 🙂 Isn’t just about everything in Atlanta on Peachtree? ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2009, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gone-with-the-wind-architectural-question/496700/14 "2009-05-18T19:51:12Z")
> [@Musicat](#): > > And Carol Burnett floats regally down the same staircase with her new…uh, outfit. A scene now commemorated with [its own Barbie](http://www.dustcatchers.com/barbie/09carol1.jpg) (as was [the original](http://www.gasolinealleyantiques.com/images/Barbiedolls/barbie-scarlett.jpg)). I won’t buy this one but if there’s ever a Eunice Barbie it’s got my name on it. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2009, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gone-with-the-wind-architectural-question/496700/15 "2009-05-18T21:43:19Z")
> [@Annie-Xmas](#): > > The staircase is there to continue the staircase motif of the book. > > Rhett first sees Scarlett when she is coming down the staircase. > Rhett proposes after the tipsy Scarlett comes down the staircase > Rhett carries Scarlett up the staircase for a night of rough sex. > Scarlett falls down the same staircase causing her miscarriage. > Rhett goes down the staircase to leave her. Scarlett shoots the Yankee bummer on the staircase of Tara. Ashley and Melanie are seen going up the staircase (with Uncle Peter lighting the way) at Christmas, presumably the night Little Beau is conceived. (I hope they didn’t make Uncle Peter hold the light through the entire conception.) Her farewell to Ashley days later is on the staircase. ---
**Author:** ![ivylass](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/9de053/32.png) [@ivylass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivylass)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2009, 12:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gone-with-the-wind-architectural-question/496700/16 "2009-05-19T00:46:03Z")
> [@Sateryn76](#): > > Nitpick…That was at Aunt Pitty Pat’s house on Peachtree Oh, I thought we were listing all the staircase scenes, not just the ones at Rhett and Scarlett’s house. ---
**Author:** ![Sateryn76](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e4f/32.png) [@Sateryn76](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sateryn76)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2009, 1:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gone-with-the-wind-architectural-question/496700/17 "2009-05-19T01:01:00Z")
> [@ivylass](#): > > Oh, I thought we were listing all the staircase scenes, not just the ones at Rhett and Scarlett’s house. I know…but I have read that book 9785698 times, and I just had to show off! 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2009, 12:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gone-with-the-wind-architectural-question/496700/18 "2009-05-19T12:04:25Z")
Scarlett is also seen going down the Atlanta staircase right before Rhett leads them out of the burning Atlanta. ---
**Author:** ![ivylass](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/9de053/32.png) [@ivylass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivylass)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2009, 12:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gone-with-the-wind-architectural-question/496700/19 "2009-05-20T00:24:46Z")
> [@Sateryn76](#): > > I know…but I have read that book 9785698 times, and I just had to show off! > > 😉 So have I, sweetie…I first read it in 6th grade. We should do another GWTW trivia contest. ---
**Author:** ![salinqmind](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3ec8ea/32.png) [@salinqmind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/salinqmind)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2009, 12:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gone-with-the-wind-architectural-question/496700/20 "2009-05-20T00:50:07Z")
About the kitchen(s) - didn’t I read somewhere at some time the kitchen would not have been in the house, but located in a building a short distance from the house? [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gone-with-the-wind-architectural-question/496700.md?page=2)