Is there an East Coast or Scottish
historic tradition for door latches installed at the height of my
nose?
I recently visited a historic house here in BC,
re-built by a Scottish Gentleman in 1924 after his 1904 pioneer ranch house
burned. All the interior door latches are at
nose-height. The tour guide said it was a tradition from the era of
candles and oil lamps whereby women with long hair, when moving through the
house with a candle or lamp, would not set their hair on fire so often if the
door latches were up high, a high latch forcing them to hold the candle
high when reaching for the latch.
Fact or Fiction? Myth of
Mysterium?
People were shorter then, and according to records
and historic photos, at 5'-8" I would have been a tall one here in
1900. The house owner, a Scottish Laird, was very wealthy, and
had an architect do the plans. Everything was well proportioned and
well finished but with simple detailing. The architect even designed
the estate's dairy barn, making it round for super efficiency.
Was it just an architect's "trip" or a tradition from elsewhere?
cp in bc
(current nose at 58")