Via Chelsea Stanhope
You walk into your newly purchased 19th-century home, tucked along the misty coast of Maine. The floors creak, the salt air lingers in the windowpanes, and every room whispers stories you haven’t heard yet.
Then you enter the primary bedroom — and there it is.
A small door. Built into the wall, sometimes with a vent or panel. It’s not quite a closet, not quite a cupboard. Not large enough to store clothes. Not grand enough to display anything.
It doesn’t match the modern idea of function. There’s no rod for hangers, no built-in shelving. It’s just… a tiny room off the bedroom.
So what was it for?
If you’re guessing it had something to do with storage, you’re warm. If you’re guessing it had something to do with the bathroom — but without plumbing — you’re getting even warmer.
This little room is something you’d only find in homes from a certain era. Before modern bathrooms were standard, and before indoor plumbing became widespread, people had to make do. Privacy was still valued, even if comfort was limited.
This was a privy closet.
No, not an outhouse. Not quite a bathroom either. It was a small, enclosed space — inside the home — meant to hold a chamber pot. A place to handle your business with a little dignity and distance. It might’ve had a small bench, maybe a shelf. Maybe even a window that no longer opens.
At night, instead of venturing outdoors in the cold or navigating dark hallways, you’d use this little space, tucked away discreetly in the bedroom. Once done, the chamber pot would be emptied and cleaned the next morning — often by the housekeeper, or, well… whoever drew the short straw.
And no — they didn’t keep clothes here. That’s what armoires and dressers were for. Bedrooms of that era weren’t built with closets for hanging wardrobes. This space had a very specific — and very human — function.
Today, most people don’t recognize what they’re looking at when they see one. It’s just an odd little room. A leftover. A question mark.
But for those who know, it’s a rare glimpse into how people lived with grace, even when convenience was scarce. A small reminder that the comforts we take for granted were once luxuries. And that even in the 1800s, a bit of privacy was worth carving out.
So if you’ve just moved into an old New England house and find one of these? You’ve uncovered a little piece of domestic history — one that’s quietly, and respectfully, not mentioned too often in polite conversation.
