ANATOMY OF A ONE-ROOM APARTMENT, 1928

Hatfield House one-room apartment

Today, a look at what a Tudor City one-room apartment came equipped with, circa 1928.

Designed as living rooms that can be easily transformed into bedrooms, the apartments are cleverly planned to make maximum use of limited spaces. Beds fold into walls, pantries are hidden behind folding doors, and so on.

The apartments are targeted toward young, upwardly mobile types who are impressed by the name-brand furnishings ‒ Frigidaires, Murphy beds, Fenestra casement windows, Standard bathroom fixtures ‒ and don't mind the small dimensions. They aren't home that much anyway ‒ they're living in Manhattan during the Roaring Twenties, after all.

Above, a 1928 blurb. Below, specific features.

Murphy beds, which fold up into a narrow closet, become a signature feature of Tudor City apartments (and the subject of many jokes). Above, a twin-bedded unit, with one bed down and the other up. 

The service pantry ‒ a 1920s take on a modern wet bar ‒ offers a sink and a small Frigidaire, but no heating elements. The idea is that hot food can be ordered up from the downstairs restaurant via room service. How convenient!

Ventilation is an important feature of the design, hence the Fenestra casement windows which can be angled to catch the breeze, along with front-door ventilators (above right) with movable louvres. Later deemed a fire hazard, these ventilators have been sealed up for decades.

Bathrooms sport white subway-tiled walls, checkerboard floors and radiators. . .

. . . and are also equipped with a Standard commode, pedestal sink, and cast-iron tub glazed with enamel.  

Original details: a glass doorknob and a ceiling light fixture.