What was the original purpose of this recessed cabinet 5' up the wall in my dining room?
byu/Dry-Philosopher-8633 inOldhouses
Redditor Dry-Philosopher-8633 asked about this strange little home feature on the subreddit Old Houses. It's a recess in the wall with a door. They store things in it, but what was its original purpose? There were plenty of guesses, including the original fuse box, laundry chute, milk or ice door, phone nook, or a kitchen pass-through (the kitchen is on the other side). But it's five feet up from the floor! Well, maybe it was a safe, a liquor cabinet, or a gun cabinet, too high for children to reach. There were also some really imaginative joke guesses, like where the gnome lives, and where you leave your urine sample.
But when we learned that there is a chimney behind the recess, the original purpose became clear. This was where a stove pipe was attached to the chimney so it could vent to the outside. My house has a shelf where the water heater vents into a chimney, and the main chimney has two shelves that could have been original vents for something or other, but they are in the basement and don't need to be prettied up. So now we know. These days, it's just a perfect place to keep things away from the children.
