{"id":535881,"date":"2024-10-08T10:48:54","date_gmt":"2024-10-08T14:48:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.brownstoner.com\/?p=535881"},"modified":"2024-10-08T10:48:54","modified_gmt":"2024-10-08T14:48:54","slug":"pass-through-history-brooklyn-brownstone-architecture-victorian-dressing-room","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.brownstoner.com\/interiors-renovation\/pass-through-history-brooklyn-brownstone-architecture-victorian-dressing-room\/","title":{"rendered":"What Was the Pass-Through?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Among the luxurious appointments of late Victorian and early Edwardian Brooklyn dwellings coveted by many an old-house lover is a feature known as the pass-through. A passageway between bedrooms fitted with paneling, storage, and marble sinks, it allowed for both privacy and intimacy, particularly in the marital suite, as well as comfort and convenience. <\/p>\n

Found chiefly in single-family row houses but also in large standalone homes such as those south of Prospect Park, various arrangements of pass-throughs tended to reflect the hierarchies and relationships of the household occupants. In row houses expansive enough to afford two or more floors of bedrooms, the level just above the parlor was the \u201cbest\u201d bedroom floor, with higher ceilings than upper floors, and potentially a bedroom for each spouse. The children\u2019s floor above would have pass-throughs as well. <\/p>\n

\"a
Left: An 1890 floor plan shows a pass-through between bedrooms equipped with closets, sinks, and pocket doors. From \u201cThe City Residence: Its Design and Construction\u201d by William Burnet Tuthill, published by William T. Comstock, in the collection of The New York Public Library<\/a>. Right: A pass-through in a Prospect Heights townhouse. Photo by Susan De Vries<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>

In standalone houses, where each bedroom level would comprise four or five bedrooms, typically only the two best bedrooms in the front on the second floor would have a passthrough. Some other bedrooms might have a sink in the room. <\/p>\n %<\/span><\/span> | %<\/span><\/a> | %<\/span><\/a> | %<\/span><\/a> Single Page<\/a>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Offering both privacy and connection, the late Victorian dressing room remains a coveted old-house feature.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":176696,"featured_media":536922,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"schneps_byline":"","schneps_post_style":"","schneps_post_source":"","schneps_syndicated_read_more":"","schneps_post_source_sitename":"","schneps_syndicated_thumb_html":"","schneps_syndicated_thumb_src":"","schneps_post_source_shortname":"","schneps_post_source_url":"","schneps_post_source_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[7644],"tags":[21673,34928,34927,7461],"districts":[],"class_list":["post-535881","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-interiors-renovation","tag-brownstoner-magazine","tag-dressing-room","tag-pass-through","tag-renovators-toolbox"],"acf":[],"parsely":{"version":"1.1.0","meta":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","headline":"What Was the Pass-Through?","url":"http:\/\/www.brownstoner.com\/interiors-renovation\/pass-through-history-brooklyn-brownstone-architecture-victorian-dressing-room\/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"http:\/\/www.brownstoner.com\/interiors-renovation\/pass-through-history-brooklyn-brownstone-architecture-victorian-dressing-room\/"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.brownstoner.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/passthrough-illustration-1882-sanitary-engineer-2.jpg?w=150&h=150&crop=1","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https:\/\/www.brownstoner.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/passthrough-illustration-1882-sanitary-engineer-2.jpg"},"articleSection":"Interiors & Renovation","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Cate Corcoran"}],"creator":["Cate Corcoran"],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Brownstoner","logo":""},"keywords":["brownstoner magazine","dressing room","pass-through","renovator's toolbox"],"dateCreated":"2024-10-08T14:48:54Z","datePublished":"2024-10-08T14:48:54Z","dateModified":"2024-10-08T14:48:54Z"},"rendered":"