You see them sometimes in old black-and-white movies, such as James Cagney’s Yankee Doodle Dandy. There’s a big Victorian house whose landlady – a widow, typically – not only lets rooms, but cooks and serves meals to the boarders. Meals are served at one big table where everybody comes and eats at the same time – sometimes there’s a dinner bell. The boarders might be confirmed bachelors, traveling salespersons, or “members of the theatrical profession.”
I’ve never seen or heard of such a thing outside of the movies. Why don’t they exist any more?
Well, there’s still a US Census classification for them, so they must still be around. These days they’re probably more along the line of hostels or backpackers accommodation.
I tend to go with the notion that less time required for basic food and shelter tasks because of such things as convenience foods and more relaxed attitudes towards housekeeping makes them an outmoded concept.
The property management company I work for owns a licensed legal rooming house. We rent out rooms to people who would otherwise be in jail, in an institution, or homeless. Some of the tenants have relatives who pay their rent; most get disability and/or welfare.
The governmental rules and regs for such a facility are phenominal! The three licenses all expire June 30th, and I go through hell every year getting them renewed, with all the forms and the inspections and the repairs. We have to have a full time super on the premises, and three back-up contact people.
The governmental bureaucracy probably contributed to the demise of these types of buildings.