Geoff Duncan

The new digs are a 1920's Craftsman-style house. Along with the charm, simplicity, and flexibility typical of these houses, I'm noticing something else: a tiny hint of back fatigue.

I'm no giant, drawing up to roughly the average height for an American male in my age group, but as I get better acquainted with this place I'm feeling occasionally Brobdingnagian. Some causes are obvious: for instance, I have to crouch to negotiate the basement stairs (and tilt a little profoundly at the bottom, thanks to an edge in the ceiling which seems designed to scalp the inattentive!). Other things are more subtle. Most doorknobs and kitchen counter heights (they're not the original counters) are a pretty-standard 36 inches. But the kitchen sink is nine inches deep, so I'm constantly stooped while washing, and cabinets under the kitchen counters are short, some as low as 24 inches, so I have to lean over to open them and squat to get anything in or out. Hot and cold water fixtures in the shower are low, windowsills on the second floor are low (not unusual for an older two-storey house), towel racks are low... even the toilet seat is low.

All I can think is that this house must have been built when short people ruled the world. Has average height increased so much since the 1920s that fixtures and other standard items from that era are just a little too short now?