• Home
  • Audio/Podcasts
  • Austensites
  • AV/E-Texts
  • History
  • Links
  • Novels
  • Original Sources/19th C. Texts
  • Social Customs During the Regency
  • Teacher/Student
  • Writer/Literature Resources

Jane Austen's World

This Jane Austen blog brings Jane Austen, her novels, and the Regency Period alive through food, dress, social customs, and other 19th C. historical details related to this topic.

Feeds:
Posts
Comments
« London Houses in Jane Austen’s Day
‘A Memoir of Jane Austen’ Boosted Her Popularity »

London Houses in Jane Austen’s Day – 2

May 27, 2007 by Vic

Louis Simonds continues to describe London townhouses in his book, An American in Regency England:
The plan of these houses is very simple, two rooms on each story; one in the front with two or three windows looking on the street, the other on a yard behind, often very small; the stairs generally taken out of the breadth of the backroom. The ground-floor is usually elevated a few feet above the level of the street, and separated from it by an area, a sort of ditch, a few feet wide, generally from three to eight, and six or eight feet deep, inclosed by an iron railing; the windows of the kitchen are in this area. A bridge of stone or brick leads to the door of the house.


The front of these houses is about twenty or twenty-five feet wide; they certainly have rather a paltry appearance – but you cannot pass the threshold without being struck with the look of order and neatness of the interior. Instead of the abominable filth of the common entrance and common stairs of of a French house, here you step from the very street on a neat floorcloth or carpet, the wall painted or papered, a lamp in its glass bell hanging from the ceiling, and every apartment in the same style – all is neat, compact, and independent, or, as it is best expressed here, snug and comfortable – a familiar expression, rather vulgar perhaps, from the thing itself being too common.

To read more about townhouses during this era, click on the following:

English Heritage Townhouses Selection Guide: Domestic Buildings

Here’s an interesting historical detail, as described in The Hidden Dimension by Edward T. Hall:

…rooms had no fixed functions in European houses until the eighteenth century. Members of the family had no privacy as we know it today. There were no spaces that were sacred or specialized. Strangers came and went at will, while beds and tables were set up and taken down according to the moods and appetites of the occupants … In the eighteenth century, the house altered its form. In French, chambre was distinguished from salle. In English, the function of a room was indicated by its name – bedroom, living room, dining room. Rooms were arranged to open into a corridor or hall, like houses into a street. No longer did the occupants pass through one room into another. Relieved of the Grand Central Station atmosphere and protected by new spaces, the family pattern began to stabilize and was was expressed further in the form of the house. p.104

See the illustration of a Georgian terraced house below.

Share with others:

  • Click to email this to a friend (Opens in new window)
  • Click to print (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Tumblr (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window)

Like this:

Like Loading...

Related

Posted in Architecture | Tagged London | 1 Comment

One Response

  1. on September 4, 2009 at 10:20 Seymour Street and Portman Square: Along the Fringes of Regency Society « Jane Austen’s World

    […] London Houses in Jane Austen’s Day Possibly related posts: (automatically generated)The Georgian House in Charlotte SquareThe Truth Revealed: What Do Regency Ladies Really Wear Under Those Thin Yet…Fashionable London AddressesYester House, Estate of the Day […]



Comments are closed.

  • Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

    Join 6,709 other followers

  • Follow Jane Austen's World on WordPress.com
  • Blog Stats

    • 14,730,305 hits
  • Jane Austen: Myth, Reality and Global Celebrity–Free Online Course

    University of Southampton via Future Learn offers a course described as thus: “Discover the fascinating story of author Jane Austen, from her own life in Hampshire to what she means to a global audience today.”

    Having taken several Future Learn courses, I can attest that they are excellent. Click here to sign up for this 3-week course.

  • The Wicked Wit of Jane Austen: TED-Ed video

    Click on this link to watch the 4:44 minute video.

  • The Obituary of Charlotte Collins by Andrew Capes

    Click on image to read the story.

  • Comments

    “My idea of good company…is the company of clever, well-informed people, who have a great deal of conversation.” – Jane Austen, Persuasion

     

    Gentle readers: Please feel free to post your comments and continue the conversation!

    Regretfully, due to SPAMMERS, we will no longer accept comments on posts that were published over 30 days ago. In some instances, links will be removed from comments as well.

  • Administrators and Contributors

    Vic Sanborn, founder of this blog, is supported by a team of talented and knowledgeable writers about Jane Austen and the Regency era. They are:

    • Tony Grant,
    • Brenda Cox, and
    • Rachel Dodge.

    Click on their names to enter their own blogs.

    In addition, we thank the many experts and authors who frequently contribute their posts and opinions, and who continue to do so freely or at our request.

  • The Anne of Green Gables Devotional by Rachel Dodge, one of this blog’s writers!

    Find a book  description and order information on Rachel Dodge’s website. Click on this link.

    Find a review of the book by Brenda Cox, another JAW author, on her website. Click on this link.

  • Podcast Reviews: First Impressions-Why All the Austen Haters Are Wrong

    Image of Victorian woman listening to a podcast with earphonesIn this podcast series First Impressions (59 episodes so far), hosts Kristin and Maggie hilariously discuss the brilliance of Jane Austen and how her novels give us unparalleled insight into our own lives and characters. There’s no shame in loving (and obsessively re-reading) Austen’s novels, which are just as fresh and relevant as they were 200 years ago. Kristin and Maggie are here to give a big [lady] finger to any haters who say otherwise!

    Click here to enter the site.

  • Pin It!

    Follow Me on Pinterest
  • Top Posts

    • Highclere Castle Floor Plan: The Real Downton Abbey
      Highclere Castle Floor Plan: The Real Downton Abbey
    • Social Customs During the Regency
      Social Customs During the Regency
    • Regency Hygiene: The Bourdaloue
      Regency Hygiene: The Bourdaloue
    • You can watch Persuasion 2007 online
      You can watch Persuasion 2007 online
    • Regency Fashion: Men's Breeches, Pantaloons, and Trousers
      Regency Fashion: Men's Breeches, Pantaloons, and Trousers
    • The heaving Regency bosom, or was it? Some facts laid bare.
      The heaving Regency bosom, or was it? Some facts laid bare.
    • Ladies Underdrawers in Regency Times: Regency Underwear
      Ladies Underdrawers in Regency Times: Regency Underwear
    • Men's hair styles at the turn of the 19th century
      Men's hair styles at the turn of the 19th century
    • The Servant's Quarters in 19th Century Country Houses Like Downton Abbey
      The Servant's Quarters in 19th Century Country Houses Like Downton Abbey
    • Awkward! The Regency Court Gown: Regency Fashion
      Awkward! The Regency Court Gown: Regency Fashion
  • Recent Posts

    • The Vyne, The Chute Family & The Austens, by Tony Grant
    • New Beginnings at Chawton Cottage
    • A Day in Catherine Morland’s Bath
    • The Contents of a Lady’s Reticule: Part 2
    • The Contents of a Lady’s Reticule: Part 1
  • Bookmark

    Add to DeliciousAdd to DiggAdd to FaceBookAdd to Google BookmarkAdd to MySpaceAdd to NewsvineAdd to RedditAdd to StumbleUponAdd to TechnoratiAdd to Twitter
  • Links to Jane Austen Blogs

    Click here to enter the page. Topics include Regency fashion, historic foods, Jane Austen societies, British sites, related topics. Click on image.

  • Find Jane Austen on Google

  • This blog has no commercial purpose

    Our team makes no profit off this blog. We may receive books (physical or digitized) and CDs for review.

  • Hello, my name is Vic and I live in Maryland, USA. I have adored Jane Austen almost all of my life. I am a proud lifetime member of the Jane Austen Society of North America. This blog is a personal blog written and edited by me and my team. We do not accept any form of cash advertising, sponsorship, or paid topic insertions. However, we do accept and keep books and CDs to review.

    If you would like to share a new site, or point out an error, please email us. (Yes, we are fallible. We'll own up to our mistakes and will make the corrections with a polite smile on our faces.) Write us at

    gmailbw

    Thank you for visiting this blog. Your comments and suggestions are most welcome.

  • Copyright Statement

    © Jane Austen’s World blog, 2010-2021. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owners is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Jane Austen’s World with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

  • Top Posts & Pages

    • Highclere Castle Floor Plan: The Real Downton Abbey
    • Social Customs During the Regency
    • Regency Hygiene: The Bourdaloue
    • You can watch Persuasion 2007 online
    • Regency Fashion: Men's Breeches, Pantaloons, and Trousers
    • The heaving Regency bosom, or was it? Some facts laid bare.
    • Ladies Underdrawers in Regency Times: Regency Underwear
    • Men's hair styles at the turn of the 19th century
    • The Servant's Quarters in 19th Century Country Houses Like Downton Abbey
    • Awkward! The Regency Court Gown: Regency Fashion
  • Page copy protected against web site content infringement by Copyscape

Blog at WordPress.com.

WPThemes.


loading Cancel
Post was not sent - check your email addresses!
Email check failed, please try again
Sorry, your blog cannot share posts by email.
%d bloggers like this: