i'm interested in the history of a pre-civil war home. its a small home, four rooms are in a brick structure and the back houses two rooms in wood siding. the first floor is the kitchen, stairs lead from the kitchen to a large empty room upstairs with access to a porch. what purpose did these stairs serve? there is a main staircase leading from the front entrance to the upstairs. if you have any clue why the home is half brick and half wood that would be helpful too. thanks!

T - in many pre-Civil War homes, the room(s) for entertaining friends were on the second floor - thus the grand stair at the entry and the large room upstairs.

The back (smaller) stair was for access to the kitchen by the help - to serve the guests.

Life was a lot different back then!

Richard Taylor, AIA
www.rtastudio.com