Coffin doors or a door exiting directly from the parlor are found in Southern New England center chimney dwellings to the federal period. By 1780 they are gone. As I say this I'm sure someone will find an exception. Center chimney dwellings of the 17th and early 18th century were one room deep. On one side of the chimney was the parlor, on the other side the hall. With the advent of the lean-to and the full second story plan came the kitchen but the front rooms were still refereed to as parlor and hall. An end chimney dwelling, a dwelling of only one room, having only a hall was common into the beginning of the 19th century. All life was carried out in one room. Coffin doors were not a consideration. See SPNEA, Old-Time New England Vol 77, No 267 pg . 65 Hepsibeth Hemenway's Portrait, " The building was small, measuring roughly fifteen by eleven." "...there were as many as nine people including four adults crowded into the first floor of the tiny house." In the small basement below were"...the Conner family... numbering six, including two young boys." Therefore the addition of a parlor with a coffin door was an improvement, an amenity. The doors were located in the front corner of the parlor. The hinge pintails driven into the stud adjacent to the corner post. The door would swing in against the front wall, out of the way. These doors were generally equipped with a lock or back brace so they could be secured when not used. They were also of adequate width to move a coffin in and out. When one observes how confining a front porch or entry is it is immediately evident how a coffin could not be moved into a parlor by that entrance. I should also note that not all dwellings were equipped with coffin doors. Many were blocked up and clapboarded over as the style went out. The fenestration was not altered compared to a structure without a coffin door when one was provided during construction. Therefore, there may be coffin doors that have yet to be discovered buried under siding and plaster. Sometimes I have found coffin horses, coffin cranes and on occasion coffins in attics of dwellings and general store lofts. Bill