They also had a bunch of other adaptations for better Summer airflow. Large, open attics with multiple windows or vents, open to the lower floors (no doors in t

They also had a bunch of other adaptations for better Summer airflow. Large, open attics with multiple windows or vents, open to the lower floors (no doors in the way), to help hot air go up and out; high ceilings (an aid, not a hindrance, to cooling, if you're not using AC); floor plans and house placement that took prevailing winds into account; larger windows for better airflow when they're open, and usually on all sides of a house, roughly symmetrically (look at modern houses, lots of them have at least one side with no windows); big, straight, end-to-end hallways to let air blow through; and so on. AC cooling efficiency requires abandoning several of these, and others are simply not given much thought because they don't matter if you're using AC all the time anyway. Which is unfortunate, because it shrinks the parts of the year in which going AC-free with windows open is viable.