This kind of arrangement used to be extremely common before building codes made them illegal. Here's a humorous indication of how normal this would have seemed

This kind of arrangement used to be extremely common before building codes made them illegal. Here's a humorous indication of how normal this would have seemed to people 70 years ago: > The 1951 sci-fi classic “The Day the Earth Stood Still” inadvertently shows us how. Klaatu, a level-headed extra-terrestrial emissary, escapes captivity at Walter Reed Army Medical Center. He wanders down Georgia Avenue, away from not-yet-nuclear-weapon-free Takoma Park, and attempts to disappear into everyday DC. > To do so, Klaatu checks into a boarding house at 14th and Harvard in Columbia Heights. Each room houses one or two people, and as such there’s scant privacy to be had: everyone overhears everything. > This is convenient for Klaatu, who knows little of Earthlings’ simple ways, but probably annoying for the Earthlings. Conditions like these were common in DC homes at the time. Source: https://ggwash.org/view/31818/an-alien-notion-800000-dc-residents https://ggwash.org/view/31818/an-alien-notion-800000-dc-resi... A single room with your own bed and a door that locks is miles above sleeping on the street, even if it means shared bathroom and kitchen facilities. We need to legalize these options once again.