I Wish Every Home Still Had This Extremely Practical 138-Year-Old Feature

I love looking at old homes on TikTok and fantasizing about living in them. A lot of these old homes, in particular Victorian-era homes, had supersmart features that rose to popularity — like Dutch doors, stair clips, and dust corners. They’re so character-filled and, most importantly, highly practical. But when I came across a TikTok of a home with one feature from the same era — the dumbwaiter — I realized that the supersmart feature needs to make a major comeback.

When you buy an old home, sometimes it needs some care and attention to be brought into the current century. After all, electrical needs to be up to code, plumbing should be modern, appliances shouldn’t be too out of date, and sometimes, the air conditioning of the past (or lack thereof) just doesn’t cut it. But if I were lucky enough to buy a home with a dumbwaiter, I’d keep it in its place.

When I’ve seen dumbwaiters in old homes (or even ones from as recent as the 1980s, spotted in one home I toured), I’ve always thought they were genius. The ability to haul stuff from upstairs to downstairs, or vice versa, without having to carry it up or down the stairs? Sign me up! Food, laundry, books, groceries — it all can travel in a dumbwaiter. 

A dumbwaiter is like a tiny elevator, just for things like food and other small items. Back in the day, the dumbwaiter was moved up and down with a pulley and rope system, and found most often in expansive and lavish homes so people didn’t have to constantly run up and down stairs. There’s a little cart inside the dumbwaiter that makes its way up and down a shaft on rails. 

And the name? Well, the “dumb” in dumbwaiter is meant to refer to the appliance being a sort of silent waiter or worker — the dumbwaiter replaces the human that does the work of bringing goods up and down the stairs.

A dumbwaiter used to be another thing completely, but the name carried over to the dumbwaiters recognized today. 

First popularized in France and England during the 18^th century, a dumbwaiter was, at that time, a tiered shelf on casters that could be moved around the room freely, used when you had dinner guests. They were just the thing to hold items such as food and serving utensils. 

Thomas Jefferson, who was the minister to France before he was the third president, spent a lot of time in Paris, where he saw dumbwaiters for the first time. He thought they were so ingenious that he commissioned several for his home Monticello and also for the White House. 

It’s generally believed that Jefferson was the first one to introduce the dumbwaiter to America. But it didn’t stop there. He even invented his own pulley-versions of dumbwaiters that flanked his fireplace, designed to specifically bring wine up from the cellar and into the dining room. 

Dumbwaiters went mainstream in 1887, when New York inventor George W. Cannon patented the contraption, making him the official inventor of the first mechanical dumbwaiter. They were then often seen in brownstones, townhouses, and apartment buildings in New York City, creating convenience for those who would otherwise have to tow heavy stuff up and down all those flights of stairs.

These dumbwaiters are also found in famous estates — like the Biltmore Estate — and were found most frequently in New York and London. Nowadays, apparently they have a reputation of being a trope in scary movies about haunted houses, which might match perfectly with your spooky vibe, if you’re someone who loves Halloween.

So maybe I sold you on the idea of having a dumbwaiter in your own home. Does that mean you can still find old homes today that have them? The answer is yes! And while dumbwaiters are undeniably convenient, you should know that they come with a big potential downside: the price tag.

For instance, this grand old home came with a dumbwaiter that wasn’t in working order, and the estimate was a whopping $12,000 to repair it — so restoring a dumbwaiter could put a major dent in your budget!

And, keep in mind that if you want an old-school dumbwaiter, the home that goes along with it could be mansion-like in nature, making the home purchase costly as well. For instance, in September of last year, this luxurious Brooklyn townhouse, equipped with a dumbwaiter, went on the market for $5.25 million. 

If you live in a two or several-story home, and your home didn’t come with a dumbwaiter, the good news is that you can absolutely install one. 

In fact, many companies craft modern versions of dumbwaiters that can be installed in today’s homes. As Realtor.com reported in 2016, there are many modern-built homes with dumbwaiters: 45% of homes listed with dumbwaiters were built after 1999, while only 8% were built between 1850 and 1950. 

Dumbwaiters can certainly boost convenience in a home, and they also could bode well for resale value. And people seem to like their dumbwaiters. As one TikTok user shared, with her modern-day dumbwaiter, she loves not carrying her food from one floor to the other, and she also uses it for her kids’ laundry and toys. And if that industrial look isn’t for you, you can make one like this TikToker and create a dumbwaiter with a pulley-and-rope system that’s newly made and looks decidedly farmhouse.

All in all, if you’re willing to splurge on restoring an old dumbwaiter or installing a new one, I say go for it. But keep in mind that other home features might be wiser to invest in, such as kitchen appliances or a bathroom remodel. Personally, I’m not ruling out the possibility of a dumbwaiter in my next home.