Mrs. Manson Mingott, one of the arbiters of class and taste in The Age of Innocence, could no longer climb stairs (due to her great weight) and therefore lived all on one floor of her suburban mansion -- an arrangement that positively shocked respectable Victorians because it was possible to see her bedchamber from her parlor.
Single-floor apartments in former mansions are more common today, especially in cities like New York, San Francisco, and Boston. They present an interesting decorating problem, as they combine splendid high ceilings and woodwork with a limited number of rooms that may (depending on how the apartment conversion was done) be small for their height. Staircases, doorways, and the turns in corridors don't necessarily accommodate today's extremely bulky furniture.
Decorating a Victorian flat in the manner of Mrs. Manson Mingott will be simpler and less frustrating if you keep a handful of rules in mind.
Look carefully at public and private space.
Victorians made clear distinctions between public space (the front parlor and dining room), private space (the bedrooms), and servant space (the kitchen and laundry). Middle-class and upper-class homes even had an additional category of semi-public space, used for entertaining family members and close friends (typically a back parlor, basement sitting room, or sun porch). Private space and servant space have lower ceilings, narrower doors and corridors, and more modest trim.
Mrs. Mingott's flat was shocking because she disregarded the distinction between public and private, putting her bedroom what was probably the back parlor. If you cherish a hefty antique bedroom suite, or if you hope to squeeze a sofa sleeper into a home office, you may have to follow her example and use the old back parlor as a sleeping chamber, simply because your favorite piece of furniture won't squeeze down the hall to the back rooms.
If you move the bedroom to the back parlor, where will you dine with guests? Can you fit a table into the front parlor, or will guests have to cross your bedroom to reach a dining area in the less formal back of the house? (If so, you'll want to make sure you have adequate storage for clothes so the bedroom is always presentable.) Do you want home office space or children's rooms in the more intimate back of the house or in the little room commonly found off the front parlor, above the stairs? Once you get used to thinking outside the conventions of modern suburban homes, you'll find that Victorian space is amazingly flexible.
Single-floor apartments in former mansions are more common today, especially in cities like New York, San Francisco, and Boston. They present an interesting decorating problem, as they combine splendid high ceilings and woodwork with a limited number of rooms that may (depending on how the apartment conversion was done) be small for their height. Staircases, doorways, and the turns in corridors don't necessarily accommodate today's extremely bulky furniture.
Decorating a Victorian flat in the manner of Mrs. Manson Mingott will be simpler and less frustrating if you keep a handful of rules in mind.
Look carefully at public and private space.
Victorians made clear distinctions between public space (the front parlor and dining room), private space (the bedrooms), and servant space (the kitchen and laundry). Middle-class and upper-class homes even had an additional category of semi-public space, used for entertaining family members and close friends (typically a back parlor, basement sitting room, or sun porch). Private space and servant space have lower ceilings, narrower doors and corridors, and more modest trim.
Mrs. Mingott's flat was shocking because she disregarded the distinction between public and private, putting her bedroom what was probably the back parlor. If you cherish a hefty antique bedroom suite, or if you hope to squeeze a sofa sleeper into a home office, you may have to follow her example and use the old back parlor as a sleeping chamber, simply because your favorite piece of furniture won't squeeze down the hall to the back rooms.
If you move the bedroom to the back parlor, where will you dine with guests? Can you fit a table into the front parlor, or will guests have to cross your bedroom to reach a dining area in the less formal back of the house? (If so, you'll want to make sure you have adequate storage for clothes so the bedroom is always presentable.) Do you want home office space or children's rooms in the more intimate back of the house or in the little room commonly found off the front parlor, above the stairs? Once you get used to thinking outside the conventions of modern suburban homes, you'll find that Victorian space is amazingly flexible.
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