Harringay, Haringey - So Good they Spelt it Twice!
Small kitchen range in bedroom
Hi all,
I've just moved into a house in the area and when removing the board from a fireplace opening discovered a small late Victorian kitchen range..but in an upstairs bedroom.
I'm a bit befuddled by this. There's no way the house was big enough to justify a live in maid if any sort... And there's a perfectly good kitchen downstairs with space for a range. No sign the house was ever divided up into flats... Has anyone else come across anything like this in an upstairs room?
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by PeterPiper on
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Yes, I have one exactly the same, & discovered it behind the boarded up fire-place when I arrived in the area many years ago. Ist floor rear of the house. The "Belle" Portable on the flue, 'manufactured' in Stoke Newington above the main oven? I love it as a feature, & blacked it up a bit. at the time.
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Permalink Reply by J on
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Thanks for your reply, and how odd! We're on the Gardens - so not a big house at all which is why was v suprised as I'm sure it's not big enough for a seperate dwelling and the range itself far too small to be the only one in the building? Do you think yours was?
I reckon it may have been part of a bedsit type room, to raise a bit of extra cash for the owner.. But who knows... Anyway, I guess I now have to rethink my plans for this bedroom...
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Permalink Reply by Hugh on
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It was not uncommon for the houses to be split from their earliest days. Usually that would have meant people occupying different parts of the house whilst sharing some facilities and not physically dividing the property. I’d guess that’s what happened here. You can check the census returns for your house. That may give a few clues.
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Yes, that does all begin to sound likely. Given how small the back bedrooms are it must have got awful toasty awful quick.
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Oh my goodness you genius!!! Thank you!! How what fascinating....what are "venetians"??
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Well now, my dad's been a-googling venetians too, I assumed it couldn't be the blinds thinking they didn't arrive till 1950/60, the standard metal ones we all remember from offices/schools... but boy, was I wrong. Yep, in Europe, mainly Paris mid nineteenth century... Well well.
Sounds like you poor bathroom has seen more action than it might rightfully have expected.
All this makes it very clear what high expectations of space and privacy mist of us have. Very humbling.
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Venetian blinds were very much the standard in late Victorian and Edwardian homes. You can see them in this picture of Warham Road.
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I'm on the Ladder! Does yours have the Belle Portable name & Stoke Newington above the oven?
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No, ours says it's the '"Albion" made by the Albion Iron Company, (who else?) of 181 Upper Thames Street.
Ugh. I know people like these things, but I've just moved from somewhere where we had to use an open fire in a daily basis to supplement inadequate heating in a draughty, rural and ancient house. The smell and feel of soot does not have pleasant memories for me!
Nevertheless. It's been here longer than me, and I daresay earned it's keep. Hurumph.
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That's fascinating, they look identical save for the small bust.
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