Originally Posted by
laura*
It was designed for different needs and customs.
Aah-yup! It was built as a two bedroom house. The attic upstairs was the storage area - probably meant to be filled with steamer trunks and such. Hence, there's no storage on the main level.
The dining area would have contained a stove of some sort. It provided heat and cooking. The area now take up by your kitchen, bathroom, and sunroom/office would have been the second bedroom and a pantry. The "bathroom" was out in the back yard.
If that's the case, then why do the bedroom shuffle? If you need to vacate rooms to renovate them, then the shuffle makes sense, but otherwise not. Right now you could claim three bedrooms - one downstairs, two upstairs, an office, and an itty bitty storage room.