In the show, Sanford & Son, you see a storefront with a big sign. It looks like there’s display windows, too. If the door you see on the set (that leads out to the junkyard) is on the side of the building, it would seem that the storefront would be where the kitchen is. I don’t recall ever seeing the storefront in the show.
Is this one of those cases where the building you see in the credits is just supposed to give you an idea where the show takes place (like the Bunker’s house in All in the Family)?
I don’t recall them ever actually shooting any part of an episode on location in front of that building–as I recall, the show was about 98% filmed on in-door sets, with an occasional episode shot partially on location (Fred went to Las Vegas and wondered around a casino and insulted Merv Griffin once).
However, iirc, they did at least dummy up a weathered “Sanford and Son” sign and put it on the building for the shots used in the opening credits.
So, yeah, just atmosphere, with no real thought given to the actual layout of the living room set vs. the shape or size of the real building.
I was always under the impression that the driveway was on the left hand side of the building, maybe from scenes of Lamont driving the truck in from the front. So the door you always see would be on the left side. Then the kitchen would be in the back.
But I was always under the impression that it was a house with a junkyard in the back. I never thought there being a storefront. Especially when the occasional “customer” would always knock at the side door.
Judging by the interior set, they lived in a storefront-house like many small business owners would have owned years ago. The bedrooms are upstairs and the downstairs is combination living and business space. The Oleson’s mercantile in “Little House on the Prairie” was set up like that with only a curtain separating the storefront from the living area. Ike Godsey’s general store in “The Waltons” was similar.
That being so, I would guess that the door we see on the set opens to the side driveway and the real front door and display window are unseen, being where the camera is, and that door probably not used. That unifies most of the imagery, but there is still the conspicuous lack of an upper floor in the exterior shot during the opening credits. Also, the kitchen would extend onto the next lot as shown.