A History of Domestic Space: Privacy and the Canadian Home

Small houses (one or two room) used to be a typical rural and urban home in the eighteenth century and onwards. Throughout the nineteenth century, small urban houses "came to be regarded as a social problem - linked with poverty and its many attendant ills." (pg. 15)

The rooms of small houses had multiple functions according to the needs of the family. When houses got larger, the interiors were divided into more rooms which were then designated for specific purposes. The number of rooms in a house was a status symbol. Room designations such as the kitchen, bathroom, parlour etc, evolved over the centuries with the social and cultural changes in the people. The room placements have shifted for privacy and social reasons. Keeping up with the trend and the perceptions of others were important for the arrangement of the household.

Before zoning, the city centre offered "mingling of new and old, wealth with poverty, commerce and manufacturing, bureaucracy and domesticity..." (pg. 112) High land and construction costs, increased zoning, exacting building codes, personal tastes and incomes have all played a role in the evolving housing ideals even though the american dream is still present. (pg. 132) The above mentioned influences are particularly changing the look of the urban fabric from a housing standpoint.

When setbacks were created, the space between the street and the house formed the front yard or lawn, a transitional space from the public realm to the private. The well-to-do's first added this level of privacy. Everyone else slowly followed. "Well-clipped lawns bespeak domesticity, good housekeeping, and a healthy family life inside the home." (pg. 148) This visual conformity made its way to some housing developments such as height restrictions or use of ornaments.

Eventually, people started turning their backs on the front yard, neighbourly sociability and the community in favour of their own private backyard space. Even densely populated housing, without front or back yard to oneself, has an increased sense of privacy. (pg. 158)

"Over time the telephone, the radio, and television, and lately the fax and the Internet, have brought the community into the heart of the home, bypassing the front door in the process." (pg. 159)
"In various ways we now can enjoy the society of others while remaining at home by ourselves." (pg. 159)

I feel this last statement is the start of yet another social problem. A partial solution to the small house "social problem" would be to leave the house and go elsewhere for some time. Whereas today you just change rooms or technologies for something new to do. Where is the happy medium between social and private time or space?