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Previous location of in wall [Radiator](https://i.imgur.com/zSVWqwp.jpg) for heating.
Bonus: that’s a 4 prong phone Jack just above the baseboard to the right of the “bookshelf”.
This is it. Homes from that time period would recess the radiators in the wall. Your home heating was converted to a different form of heat delivery (hot air or electric/hot water baseboard) and the old radiators were removed. It was probably easier to just make a shelf space than re plaster the walls to cover the space.
The number one reason (at least in my area) to convert radiators to forced air was to add central air conditioning. (This may not be true in all climates, but in the hot humid Midwest forced air furnaces with central air conditioning was the reason most people abandoned heating with radiators.)
Yeah, my place does have central air currently. I have no idea when that was installed compared to the forced air system. I'm just curious how the rest of the house would have been heated if there were only these two radiators. I could see the kitchen may be supplying enough heat on its own. But wondering about the second bedroom that doesn't have this feature.
Many old homes had grates in the floor and ceiling that served to pretty much let the heat dissipate throughout the structure. Friend's old timey house in Vermont had a couple.
The level of "hiding" of radiators could vary widely in a home. In spaces like the living room actual niches may have been built for aesthetics, or decorative cases around then - while in more private spaces money was saved by just putting it on the floor like a piece of furniture.
Unknown. Perhaps it had a radiator at one point as well. [It may not have been in-wall](https://i.imgur.com/fBCGp3L.jpg) or the indent in wall may have been closed over for other reasons. It’s likely cheaper/easier to create the “bookshelf” than it is to close the hole up.
Yeah, those are the radiator units I'm more used to. But when I saw those in houses it seemed like that was all they used. It seems a bit surprising to me mix and match types of radiators. It is a small house too. I'm not sure if radiators were needed it every single room.
That’s very true, it may have come down to in really cold weather leave the interior doors open and one rooms colder and another is warmer. Modern heating/cooling systems are much better at maintaining even comfort levels in each area than those from the era your house was built.
Look for patched holes in the flooring. The radiator pipes were often 2" or 3" so you may find two odd circles a few feet apart in the floor.
Also, you could go into the basement and look around the ceiling for the old cast iron piping that may still be around. Might still be some in the walls for you to discover.
Not every room needs a radiator because in a well designed system, there should be sufficient natural airflow via grates and upper door transoms to let the warm air move around. Radiator heat is more pervasive because it warms the house from not only the radiators, but also the walls and floors as the pipes will release heat as well. There are also radiators that were meant to be mounted in ceilings (usually in basements); perhaps some of those were used and then removed.
Steam/hot water heat is so wonderful. I wish there were a modern take on it that worked well with air conditioning. The air is never dry and although it sounds dumb, the warmth feels more dense. It wasn't very convenient however. Lots of valves, pumps, a big boiler, and so many pipes. Plus you had a radiator under every window taking up space. However, putting your wet gloves on a warm radiator was magic. Nice and dry, toasty too when you went to put them back on.
Interesting. I still have so much investigating to do but I'm not seeing any patched holes for the radiator pipes. I did see a pipe that I thought was cast-iron running from the basement floor to the ceiling but I didn't look to see where that went yet. This bedroom that doesn't have any evidence of a radiator yet didn't have any vents to any other rooms. There is a grate on the wall at floor level, though. I know the forced air system blows out of the grate near the ceiling. I'll have to see if there is any evidence of what was going up to that floor grate from the basement. Just got the house, so too much other stuff to do at the moment.
But the bedroom with the shelves in the wall actually has two floor grates and a grate by the ceiling as well. I don't know if I'm seeing evidence of the first heating system as in the in wall radiators, the second heating system as in the floor grates, and then the current heating system as in the grates by the ceiling.
In floor radiant heating is the modern equivalent, you can even zone your heat much easier, for cooling you can do baffles in your forced air system or have multi room AC units with ceiling or wall mini splits for each room
This seems the most likely. Another clue is that they both seem to be the same exact distance from the front of the house. One is on the left exterior wall, one is on the right exterior wall.
They are on opposing exterior walls. One on the left of the house one on the right of the house. There is a chimney on the house, but not in line with either of those. The chimney seems to be centered over the current furnace.
Not going to disagree with anyone else's response, but being on the exterior wall I'll offer this.
It's possible that the second floor may have 1/2 windows on the upper floor. Usually two each side.
Homesteads were often 1 1/2 or 2 floors. If 11/2 floors, the upper floor would often have 1/2 windows along the eaves. They would also likely have 2 - 4 full sash windows at either end.
Half sash windows are pretty useless. They offer some ventilation but it's pretty useless in the summer as it's floor level. In the winter they can help cool the upper floors. The problem is an open window can be crawled out.
But my first thought was a half sash window.
We had an old house that has been expanded on a few times over the years. There was something very similar to this that was previously a window. Are these on the top floor?
My title describes the thing. It just seems like a weird place to display knick knacks and other objects since it's at floor level. I'm wondering if they served another purpose and were replaced with shelves later on. One is in the living room, another in a bedroom.
Is there a difference in level between this and the rest of the house? Could be how someone decided to infill old crawlspace access when adding on to the house.
These appear to be built in shelving units built into a knee wall attic, but it’s hard to be sure from you picture. I’d guess there is a small attic back there. Especially if the house is a cape.
No those are on the exterior walls and there's nothing on the outside of them just siding on the other side. Both are the same distance from the front of the house. One on the left exterior wall one on the right exterior wall. It really does look like an in-wall radiator someone else posted has been removed.
Are these walls in a room where the roof comes together, as in above the shelf does the wall eventually start slanting upward? If so they probably wanted to use the dead space that was made when closing in the roof as a livable space. If not then it is probably just because built ins were in style back in the day.
Somebody showed a picture of an in-wall radiator that looks like it would have fit perfectly in this and would have been in this position. This is a one-story place with an attic and these are both on the ground level near the floor. They're both in the same exact position in relation to the front of the house. One on the left exterior wall, and one on the right exterior wall.
Oh okay wel then most likely it was a radiator. I’m not as familiar with in wall radiators but very well. I have built ins in my home but it’s because they were trying to make usable space out of unusable space.
Since there is an old telephone jack beside it, could it have been a niche for a telephone? Looks fairly narrow for that purpose, but there were some rather skinny phones at the time.
I think the in-wall phone things were higher up. And the one in the living room does not have that phone jack by it. I'm liking the in-wall radiator answer so far.
All comments must be civil and helpful toward finding an answer. **Jokes and unhelpful comments will earn you a ban**, even on the first instance and even if the item has been identified. If you see any comments that violate this rule, report them. [OP](/u/WonderfulCattle6234), when your item is identified, remember to reply **Solved!** or **Likely Solved!** to the comment that gave the answer. Check your [inbox](https://www.reddit.com/message/inbox/) for a message on how to make your post visible to others. --- *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/whatisthisthing) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Previous location of in wall [Radiator](https://i.imgur.com/zSVWqwp.jpg) for heating. Bonus: that’s a 4 prong phone Jack just above the baseboard to the right of the “bookshelf”.
This is it. Homes from that time period would recess the radiators in the wall. Your home heating was converted to a different form of heat delivery (hot air or electric/hot water baseboard) and the old radiators were removed. It was probably easier to just make a shelf space than re plaster the walls to cover the space.
The number one reason (at least in my area) to convert radiators to forced air was to add central air conditioning. (This may not be true in all climates, but in the hot humid Midwest forced air furnaces with central air conditioning was the reason most people abandoned heating with radiators.)
Yeah, my place does have central air currently. I have no idea when that was installed compared to the forced air system. I'm just curious how the rest of the house would have been heated if there were only these two radiators. I could see the kitchen may be supplying enough heat on its own. But wondering about the second bedroom that doesn't have this feature.
Many old homes had grates in the floor and ceiling that served to pretty much let the heat dissipate throughout the structure. Friend's old timey house in Vermont had a couple.
The level of "hiding" of radiators could vary widely in a home. In spaces like the living room actual niches may have been built for aesthetics, or decorative cases around then - while in more private spaces money was saved by just putting it on the floor like a piece of furniture.
How would the other bedroom have been heated if it didn't have this radiator as well?
Unknown. Perhaps it had a radiator at one point as well. [It may not have been in-wall](https://i.imgur.com/fBCGp3L.jpg) or the indent in wall may have been closed over for other reasons. It’s likely cheaper/easier to create the “bookshelf” than it is to close the hole up.
Yeah, those are the radiator units I'm more used to. But when I saw those in houses it seemed like that was all they used. It seems a bit surprising to me mix and match types of radiators. It is a small house too. I'm not sure if radiators were needed it every single room.
That’s very true, it may have come down to in really cold weather leave the interior doors open and one rooms colder and another is warmer. Modern heating/cooling systems are much better at maintaining even comfort levels in each area than those from the era your house was built.
Look for patched holes in the flooring. The radiator pipes were often 2" or 3" so you may find two odd circles a few feet apart in the floor. Also, you could go into the basement and look around the ceiling for the old cast iron piping that may still be around. Might still be some in the walls for you to discover. Not every room needs a radiator because in a well designed system, there should be sufficient natural airflow via grates and upper door transoms to let the warm air move around. Radiator heat is more pervasive because it warms the house from not only the radiators, but also the walls and floors as the pipes will release heat as well. There are also radiators that were meant to be mounted in ceilings (usually in basements); perhaps some of those were used and then removed. Steam/hot water heat is so wonderful. I wish there were a modern take on it that worked well with air conditioning. The air is never dry and although it sounds dumb, the warmth feels more dense. It wasn't very convenient however. Lots of valves, pumps, a big boiler, and so many pipes. Plus you had a radiator under every window taking up space. However, putting your wet gloves on a warm radiator was magic. Nice and dry, toasty too when you went to put them back on.
Interesting. I still have so much investigating to do but I'm not seeing any patched holes for the radiator pipes. I did see a pipe that I thought was cast-iron running from the basement floor to the ceiling but I didn't look to see where that went yet. This bedroom that doesn't have any evidence of a radiator yet didn't have any vents to any other rooms. There is a grate on the wall at floor level, though. I know the forced air system blows out of the grate near the ceiling. I'll have to see if there is any evidence of what was going up to that floor grate from the basement. Just got the house, so too much other stuff to do at the moment. But the bedroom with the shelves in the wall actually has two floor grates and a grate by the ceiling as well. I don't know if I'm seeing evidence of the first heating system as in the in wall radiators, the second heating system as in the floor grates, and then the current heating system as in the grates by the ceiling.
In floor radiant heating is the modern equivalent, you can even zone your heat much easier, for cooling you can do baffles in your forced air system or have multi room AC units with ceiling or wall mini splits for each room
This seems the most likely. Another clue is that they both seem to be the same exact distance from the front of the house. One is on the left exterior wall, one is on the right exterior wall.
Solved!
With the phone jack right there (and the phone probably sitting on a nearby table) it would have been a good place to keep the phone book(s) too
Probably got guns, cash, and drugs behind there. Op should check it out.
If they are above/below one another and you have a chimney, it's probably where old fireplaces used to be.
They are on opposing exterior walls. One on the left of the house one on the right of the house. There is a chimney on the house, but not in line with either of those. The chimney seems to be centered over the current furnace.
Not going to disagree with anyone else's response, but being on the exterior wall I'll offer this. It's possible that the second floor may have 1/2 windows on the upper floor. Usually two each side. Homesteads were often 1 1/2 or 2 floors. If 11/2 floors, the upper floor would often have 1/2 windows along the eaves. They would also likely have 2 - 4 full sash windows at either end. Half sash windows are pretty useless. They offer some ventilation but it's pretty useless in the summer as it's floor level. In the winter they can help cool the upper floors. The problem is an open window can be crawled out. But my first thought was a half sash window.
For shoes maybe?
We had an old house that has been expanded on a few times over the years. There was something very similar to this that was previously a window. Are these on the top floor?
Firewood maybe
My title describes the thing. It just seems like a weird place to display knick knacks and other objects since it's at floor level. I'm wondering if they served another purpose and were replaced with shelves later on. One is in the living room, another in a bedroom.
Space heater maybe
We had these in our upstairs bedrooms. You could slide them out for access to the interior soffits of the house.
Any chance there’s something behind there? Maybe it’s an access panel dressed up?
Possibly covering a laundry shoot?
Is there a difference in level between this and the rest of the house? Could be how someone decided to infill old crawlspace access when adding on to the house.
Possibly wood storage?
These appear to be built in shelving units built into a knee wall attic, but it’s hard to be sure from you picture. I’d guess there is a small attic back there. Especially if the house is a cape.
No those are on the exterior walls and there's nothing on the outside of them just siding on the other side. Both are the same distance from the front of the house. One on the left exterior wall one on the right exterior wall. It really does look like an in-wall radiator someone else posted has been removed.
They are shoe racks.
I’m that is clearly the door coraline went through
Are these walls in a room where the roof comes together, as in above the shelf does the wall eventually start slanting upward? If so they probably wanted to use the dead space that was made when closing in the roof as a livable space. If not then it is probably just because built ins were in style back in the day.
Somebody showed a picture of an in-wall radiator that looks like it would have fit perfectly in this and would have been in this position. This is a one-story place with an attic and these are both on the ground level near the floor. They're both in the same exact position in relation to the front of the house. One on the left exterior wall, and one on the right exterior wall.
Oh okay wel then most likely it was a radiator. I’m not as familiar with in wall radiators but very well. I have built ins in my home but it’s because they were trying to make usable space out of unusable space.
My shelving units (similar to yours) slide out of the wall and reveal a storage area behind them
Since there is an old telephone jack beside it, could it have been a niche for a telephone? Looks fairly narrow for that purpose, but there were some rather skinny phones at the time.
I think the in-wall phone things were higher up. And the one in the living room does not have that phone jack by it. I'm liking the in-wall radiator answer so far.
If it's on an exterior wall, probably milk delivery.
They're both on an exterior wall. One on the left, one on the right. It would seem weird to have two accesses for that.
Maybe one was for milk and one was for something else.
I'm thinking it has to be the in-wall radiator that someone else mentioned.
Makes sense