Squint Shot 021812

Early last year, I showed a series of squint shots from the old Nellie Glenn house, which is situated at the southwest corner of East Grand River and South Collins. It is a large, red house facing East Grand River. While it was empty, I toured through it and took a number of pictures of hardware, radiators, doors, trim; basically anything that needed to be preserved digitally. Between two large, first floor rooms -- probably one a living room or parlor and the other a dining area -- there were pocket slider doors. Still in great condition.
As I toured the old Defendorf house, the current owner showed me the archway between the living area and the dining room. As you can see, the width of the wall indicates there may have been, at one time, pocket doors separating the two rooms. It is thought that the custom in the late 1800s and maybe into the 1900s was that a visitor coming in the front door would be welcomed into the living room but not necessarily able to see the rest of the house where the family lived. It makes sense to me as it would appear, behavior seemed a lot more formal than we find today.