The Carr House, located in Shelby County, Tennessee, was built in the 1820s. This 17 x 34 foot, two room hall-and-parlor style house was a common floor plan in 17th and 18th century Virginia. The style spread west throughout the eastern and southern United States.
The “hall” was generally the space used for eating, indoor work, sitting, sleeping space for children and visitors, and for cooking if there was no separate kitchen. The second room, the “parlor” or “chamber” was considered to be the “best” room. The best bed, the one that belonged to the parents, and the family’s most valuable possessions were in the parlor. This space was reserved for formal entertaining on important occasions. While presence of beds in every room and the lack of privacy for sleeping is very unusual today, many average people living in the early 1800s and before would have thought that having one’s own bed and bedroom to be very strange.
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Image courtesy of Library of Congress.