A boarding house is a

house A house is a single-unit residential building. It may range in complexity from a rudimentary hut to a complex structure of wood, masonry, concrete or other material, outfitted with plumbing, electrical, and heating, ventilation, and air c ...

(frequently a family home) in which lodgers rent one or more rooms on a nightly basis and sometimes for extended periods of weeks, months, or years. The common parts of the house are maintained, and some services, such as laundry and cleaning, may be supplied. It normally provides "

room and board Room and board describes an accommodation which, in exchange for money, labour or other recompense, a person is provided with a place to live in addition to meals. It commonly occurs as a fee at higher educational institutions, such as colleges ...

," with some meals as well as accommodation. Lodgers legally obtain a licence, not exclusive possession, to use their rooms and so the landlord retains the right of access.

Arrangements

Formerly boarders would typically share washing,

breakfast Breakfast is the first meal of the day usually eaten in the morning. The word in English refers to breaking the fasting period of the previous night. Various "typical" or "traditional" breakfast menus exist, with food choices varying by regi ...

, and dining facilities; in recent years, it has become common for each room to have its own washing and toilet facilities. Such boarding houses were often found in English seaside towns (for

tourists Tourism is travel for pleasure, and the Commerce, commercial activity of providing and supporting such travel. World Tourism Organization, UN Tourism defines tourism more generally, in terms which go "beyond the common perception of tourism as ...

) and college towns (for students). It was common for there to be one or two elderly long-term residents. "The phrase "boardinghouse reach" eferring to a diner reaching far across a dining tablecomes from an important variant of hotel life. In boardinghouses, tenants rent rooms and the proprietor provides family-style breakfasts and evening dinners in a common dining room. Traditionally, the food was put on the table, and everyone scrambled for the best dishes. Those with a long, fast reach ate best."Groth, Paul. ''Living Downtown: The History of Residential Hotels in the United States''. Chapter One – Conflicting Ideas about Hotel Life. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1994. http://ark.cdlib.org/ark:/13030/ft6j49p0wf/ Boarders can often arrange to stay bed-and-breakfast (bed and breakfast only), half-board (bed, breakfast and dinner only), or full-board (bed, breakfast, lunch, and dinner). Especially for families on holiday with children, boarding (particularly on a full-board basis) was an inexpensive alternative and much cheaper than staying in all but the cheapest hotels.

History

Boarding houses were common in most US cities throughout the 19th century and until the 1950s. In Boston, in the 1830s, when landlords and their boarders were added up, between one third and one half of the city's entire population lived in a boarding house. Boarding houses ran from large purpose-built buildings down to "genteel ladies," who rented a room or two as a way of earning a little extra money. Large houses were converted to boarding houses, as wealthy families moved to more fashionable neighborhoods. The boarders in the 19th century ran the gamut as well, from well-off businessmen to poor laborers, and from single people to families. In the 19th century, between a third to half of urban dwellers rented a room to boarders or were boarders themselves. In New York in 1869, the cost of living in a boarding house ranged from $2.50 to $40 a week. Some boarding houses attracted people with particular occupations or preferences, such as vegetarian meals. The boarding house reinforced some social changes: it made it feasible for people to move to a large city and away from their families. The distance from relatives brought social anxieties and complaints that the residents of boarding houses were not respectable. Boarding out gave people the opportunity to meet other residents and so they promoted some social mixing. That had advantages, such as learning new ideas and new people's stories, and also disadvantages, such as occasionally meeting disreputable or dangerous people. Most boarders were men, but women found that they had limited options: a co-ed boarding house might mean meeting objectionable men, but an all-female boarding house might be or at least be suspected of being a

brothel A brothel, strumpet house, bordello, bawdy house, ranch, house of ill repute, house of ill fame, or whorehouse is a place where people engage in Human sexual activity, sexual activity with prostitutes. For legal or cultural reasons, establis ...

. Boarding houses attracted criticism: in "1916, Walter Krumwilde, a Protestant minister, saw the rooming house or boardinghouse system s"spreading its web like a spider, stretching out its arms like an octopus to catch the unwary soul." Attempts to reduce boarding house availability had a gendered impact, as boarding houses were typically operated or managed by women "matrons," and closing boarding houses reduced that opportunity for women to make a living from operating such houses.Groth, Paul. ''Living Downtown: The History of Residential Hotels in the United States''. Chapter Eight – From Scattered Opinion to Centralized Policy. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1994. http://ark.cdlib.org/ark:/13030/ft6j49p0wf/ Later, groups such as the Young Women's Christian Association provided heavily-supervised boarding houses for young women. Boarding houses were viewed as "brick-and-mortar chastity belts" for young unmarried women, which protected them from the vices in the city. The Jeanne d'Arc Residence in

Chelsea, Manhattan Chelsea is a neighborhood on the West Side (Manhattan), West Side of the Boroughs of New York City, borough of Manhattan in New York City. The area's boundaries are roughly 14th Street (Manhattan), 14th Street to the south, the Hudson River an ...

, which was operated by an order of nuns, aimed to provide a dwelling space for young French seamstresses and nannies. Married women who boarded with their families in boarding houses were accused of being too lazy to do all of the washing, cooking, and cleaning necessary to keep house or to raise children properly. While there is an association between boarding houses and women renters, men also rented, notably the poet-authors

Walt Whitman Walter Whitman Jr. (; May 31, 1819 – March 26, 1892) was an American poet, essayist, and journalist; he also wrote two novels. He is considered one of the most influential poets in American literature and world literature. Whitman incor ...

and

Edgar Allan Poe Edgar Allan Poe (; January 19, 1809 – October 7, 1849) was an American writer, poet, editor, and literary critic who is best known for his poetry and short stories, particularly his tales involving mystery and the macabre. He is widely re ...

. In the decades after the 1880s, urban reformers began working on modernizing cities; their efforts to create "uniformity within areas, less mixture of social classes, maximum privacy for each family, much lower density for many activities, buildings set back from the street, and a permanently built order" all meant that housing for single people had to be cut back or eliminated. By the early 1930s, urban reformers were typically using codes and zoning to enforce "uniform and protected single-use residential district of private houses," the reformers' preferred housing type. In 1936, the FHA Property Standards defined a dwelling as "any structure used principally for residential purposes" and noted that "commercial rooming houses and tourist homes, sanitariums, tourist cabins, clubs, or fraternities would not be considered dwellings" as they did not have the "private kitchen and a private bath" that reformers viewed as essential in a "proper home." As a result, boarding houses became less common in the early 20th century. Another factor that reduced boarding house numbers was that improved

mass transit Public transport (also known as public transit, mass transit, or simply transit) are forms of transport available to the general public. It typically uses a fixed schedule, route and charges a fixed fare. There is no rigid definition of whi ...

options made it feasible for more city residents to live in the suburbs and work in the city. By the 1930s, boarding houses were becoming less common in most of the United States. In the 1930s and 1940s, "rooming or boarding houses had been taken for granted as respectable places for students, single workers, immigrants, and newlyweds to live when they left home or came to the city." However, with the housing boom in the 1950s, middle-class newcomers could increasingly afford their own homes or apartments, which meant that rooming and boarding houses were beginning to be used more often by postsecondary "students, the working poor, or the unemployed." By the 1960s, rooming and boarding houses were deteriorating, as official city policies tended to ignore them.

Similar concepts

The common lodging-house or flophouse usually offered a space to sleep but little else. When used for temporary purposes, the arrangement was similar to a

hostel A hostel is a form of low-cost, short-term shared sociable lodging where guests can rent a bed, usually a bunk bed in a dormitory sleeping 4–20 people, with shared use of a lounge and usually a kitchen. Rooms can be private or shared - mixe ...

. Flophouse beds may offer dormitory-style space for as little as one night at a time. Group homes, residences that provide supervision and

assisted living An assisted living residence or assisted living facility (ALF) is a housing facility for people with disabilities or for adults who cannot or who choose not to live independently. The term is popular in the United States. Still, the setting i ...

for adults with neurological disabilities or children unable to live with family, share characteristics with boarding houses. A lodging house, also known in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

as a

rooming house A rooming house, also called a "multi-tenant house", is a "dwelling with multiple Lease-by-room, rooms rented out individually", in which the tenants share kitchen and often bathroom facilities. Rooming houses are often used as housing for low-i ...

, may or may not offer meals. Single-room occupancy (SRO) buildings rent individual rooms to residents and have a shared bathroom; some may have a shared kitchen space for residents to cook their own meals.

Dormitory A dormitory (originated from the Latin word ''dormitorium'', often abbreviated to dorm), also known as a hall of residence, a residence hall (often abbreviated to halls), or a hostel, is a building primarily providing sleeping and residential qu ...

accommodations for postsecondary students are similar to a boarding houses when they include cafeterias. In the 2010s, microapartments, with one or two rooms rented and access to shared common spaces in the building, are very similar to boarding houses.

WeWork WeWork Inc., headquartered in New York City, is a provider of coworking spaces, including physical and virtual shared spaces, in approximately 600 buildings in 125 cities. WeWork was founded in 2010 by Adam Neumann and Miguel McKelvey. Ove ...

, a company mostly known for its shared

coworking Coworking is an arrangement in which workers for different companies share an office space. It allows cost savings and convenience through the use of common infrastructures, such as equipment, utilities and receptionist and custodial services, a ...

rental spaces, is also offering shared housing arrangements in which renters get a private bedroom but share a kitchen, living room, and other common areas.

Bed and breakfast A bed and breakfast (typically shortened to B&B or BnB) is a small lodging establishment that offers overnight accommodation and breakfast. In addition, a B&B sometimes has the hosts living in the house. ''Bed and breakfast'' is also used to ...

accommodation (B&B), which exists in many countries in the world (such as the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

, the

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

, and

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

), is a specialized form of boarding house in which the guests or boarders normally stay only on a bed-and-breakfast basis, and long-term residence is rare. However, some B&B accommodation is made available on a long-term basis to British

local authorities Local government is a generic term for the lowest tiers of governance or public administration within a particular sovereign state. Local governments typically constitute a subdivision of a higher-level political or administrative unit, such a ...

which are legally obliged to house persons and families for whom they have no

social housing Public housing, also known as social housing, refers to Subsidized housing, subsidized or affordable housing provided in buildings that are usually owned and managed by local government, central government, nonprofit organizations or a ...

available. Some such boarding houses allow large groups with low incomes to share overcrowded rooms or otherwise exploit people with problems rendering them vulnerable, such as those with irregular immigration status. Such a boarding-house may well cease to be attractive to short-term lodgers, and the residents may remain in unsatisfactory accommodation for long periods. Much old seaside accommodation is so used since cheap flights have reduced demand for their original seasonal holiday use. Apart from the worldwide spread of the concept of the B&B, there are equivalents of the British boarding houses elsewhere in the world. For example, in

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

, minshuku are an almost exact equivalent although the normal arrangement would be the equivalent of the English half-board. In

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; ) is an island U.S. state, state of the United States, in the Pacific Ocean about southwest of the U.S. mainland. One of the two Non-contiguous United States, non-contiguous U.S. states (along with Alaska), it is the only sta ...

, where the cost of living is high and incomes barely keep pace, it is common to take in lodgers (who are boarders in English terminology) that share the burden of the overall rent or

mortgage A mortgage loan or simply mortgage (), in civil law (legal system), civil law jurisdictions known also as a hypothec loan, is a loan used either by purchasers of real property to raise funds to buy real estate, or by existing property owners t ...

payable. In the

Indian subcontinent The Indian subcontinent is a physiographic region of Asia below the Himalayas which projects into the Indian Ocean between the Bay of Bengal to the east and the Arabian Sea to the west. It is now divided between Bangladesh, India, and Pakista ...

, boarders are also known as " paying guests". They stay in a home and share a room with domestic facilities. Rates are nominal and monthly charges usually include food, bed, table, and a cupboard. The rent can go higher for a room in an upscale locality with facilities like single occupancy, air conditioning, and high-speed wireless internet access.

Legal restrictions

In the United States,

zoning In urban planning, zoning is a method in which a municipality or other tier of government divides land into land-use "zones", each of which has a set of regulations for new development that differs from other zones. Zones may be defined for ...

has been used by neighborhoods to limit boarding houses or ban them outright.

In popular culture

Literature

*In ''

Little Women ''Little Women'' is a coming-of-age novel written by American novelist Louisa May Alcott, originally published in two volumes, in 1868 and 1869. The story follows the lives of the four March sisters— Meg, Jo, Beth, and Amy—and details th ...

'', Jo March moves to New York City to pursue her literary career and lives in a boarding house where she meets a variety of boarders. She develops a relationship with one of them, Professor Bhaer. *

Sherlock Holmes Sherlock Holmes () is a Detective fiction, fictional detective created by British author Arthur Conan Doyle. Referring to himself as a "Private investigator, consulting detective" in his stories, Holmes is known for his proficiency with obser ...

lived in a boarding house at 221B Baker Street, whose landlady, Mrs. Hudson, provided some domestic service. *In '' Look Homeward, Angel'', author

Thomas Wolfe Thomas Clayton Wolfe (October 3, 1900 – September 15, 1938) was an American novelist and short story writer. He is known largely for his first novel, '' Look Homeward, Angel'' (1929), and for the short fiction that appeared during the last ye ...

richly chronicles his life growing up in his mother's boarding house "Dixieland" in early-20th-century Asheville. * Addy Walker is a character in the

American Girl American Girl is an American line of dolls released on May 5, 1986, by Pleasant Company. The dolls portray eight- to fourteen-year-old girls of various ethnicities, faiths, nationalities, and social classes throughout different time periods ...

historical collection. Her story takes place in the mid-1860s, and the majority of the books in her series feature her and her family living in a boarding house in

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

. Similarly, the character Claudie Wells lives in a boarding house in

Harlem Harlem is a neighborhood in Upper Manhattan, New York City. It is bounded roughly by the Hudson River on the west; the Harlem River and 155th Street on the north; Fifth Avenue on the east; and Central Park North on the south. The greater ...

in 1922, and the

Great Depression The Great Depression was a severe global economic downturn from 1929 to 1939. The period was characterized by high rates of unemployment and poverty, drastic reductions in industrial production and international trade, and widespread bank and ...

-era character Kit Kittredge's family turns their home into a boarding house as a source of extra income. *

Mary Roberts Rinehart Mary Roberts Rinehart (August 12, 1876September 22, 1958) was an American writer, often called the American Agatha Christie.Keating, H.R.F., ''The Bedside Companion to Crime''. New York: Mysterious Press, 1989, p. 170. Rinehart published her fi ...

wrote the now-classic boarding-house mystery, '' The Case of Jennie Brice'', in 1913. *

H. G. Wells Herbert George Wells (21 September 1866 – 13 August 1946) was an English writer, prolific in many genres. He wrote more than fifty novels and dozens of short stories. His non-fiction output included works of social commentary, politics, hist ...

satirized boarding houses of the

Edwardian era In the United Kingdom, the Edwardian era was a period in the early 20th century that spanned the reign of King Edward VII from 1901 to 1910. It is commonly extended to the start of the First World War in 1914, during the early reign of King Ge ...

in his novel '' The Dream'' (1924). * E. Phillips Oppenheim set his espionage novel '' The Strange Boarders of Palace Crescent'' (1934) in a

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

boarding house. *The climax of Patrick Hamilton's 1941 novel '' Hangover Square'' occurs in a dingy

Maidenhead Maidenhead is a market town in the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead in the county of Berkshire, England. It lies on the southwestern bank of the River Thames, which at this point forms the border with Buckinghamshire. In the 2021 Census, ...

boarding house. * Lynne Reid Banks's 1960 novel '' The L-Shaped Room'' is set in a run-down boarding house. *Ben Mears, the main character in the 1975 horror novel '' Salem's Lot'' by

Stephen King Stephen Edwin King (born September 21, 1947) is an American author. Dubbed the "King of Horror", he is widely known for his horror novels and has also explored other genres, among them Thriller (genre), suspense, crime fiction, crime, scienc ...

, stays at Eva Miller's boarding house. *In '' True Grit'', the main protagonist, Mattie Ross, stays at the Monarch Boarding House where she is forced to share a bed with Grandma Turner, one of the long-term residents and where a robust communal meal takes place. *The young heroes in Horatio Alger's 19th-century rags-to-riches tales often experience life in boarding houses and single works often depict both unscrupulous and kindly boarding house proprietors as the characters make their way upward (or downward) in the world. *In Terry Pratchett's

Discworld ''Discworld'' is a comic fantasy"Humorous Fantasy" in David Pringle, ed., ''The Ultimate Encyclopedia of Fantasy'' (pp.31-33). London, Carlton,2006. book series written by the English author Sir Terry Pratchett, set on the Discworld, a fl ...

novel ''

The Truth The Truth may refer to: Film * ''The Truth'' (1920 film) starring Madge Kennedy * ''The Truth'' (1960 film) or ''La Vérité'', a French film by Henri-Georges Clouzot starring Brigitte Bardot * ''The Truth'' (1988 film), a Hong Kong trial cri ...

'', the protagonist, William de Worde, lives in Mrs Arcanum's Lodging House for Respectable Working Men (2000).

Films

*The 1914 film, '' The Star Boarder'', has a boarding house as its setting. *The 1922 film, '' The Light in the Dark'', has a boarding house as its setting. *The 1927 film, '' The Lodger'', has a boarding house as its setting. *The 1931 film, ''

Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde ''Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde'' is an 1886 Gothic fiction, Gothic horror fiction, horror novella by Scottish author Robert Louis Stevenson. It follows Gabriel John Utterson, a London-based legal practitioner who investigates a series ...

'', shows a boarding house. *In the 1933 film, '' Son of Kong'', Carl Denham ( Robert Armstrong) stays in a boarding house. *In the 1936 film, '' A Pain in the Pullman'',

the Three Stooges The Three Stooges were an American vaudeville and comedy team active from 1922 until 1970, best remembered for their 190 short-subject films by Columbia Pictures. Their hallmark styles were physical, farce, and slapstick comedy. Six total ...

stay in a boarding house. *In the 1937 film, ''

Stage Door ''Stage Door'' is a 1937 American Tragicomedy, tragicomedy film directed by Gregory La Cava, and starring Katharine Hepburn, Ginger Rogers, Adolphe Menjou, Gail Patrick, Constance Collier, Andrea Leeds, Samuel S. Hinds, and Lucille Ball. Adapt ...

'', has a boarding house for its setting. *In the 1939 film, '' The Story of Alexander Graham Bell'',

Alexander Graham Bell Alexander Graham Bell (; born Alexander Bell; March 3, 1847 – August 2, 1922) was a Scottish-born Canadian Americans, Canadian-American inventor, scientist, and engineer who is credited with patenting the first practical telephone. He als ...

(

Don Ameche Don Ameche (; born Dominic Felix Amici; May 31, 1908 – December 6, 1993) was an American actor, comedian and vaudevillian. After playing in college shows, repertory theatre, and vaudeville, he became a major radio star in the early 19 ...

) stays in a boarding house. *In the 1941 film, ''

Citizen Kane ''Citizen Kane'' is a 1941 American Drama (film and television), drama film directed by, produced by and starring Orson Welles and co-written by Welles and Herman J. Mankiewicz. It was Welles's List of directorial debuts, first feature film. ...

'', Kane's parents own a boarding house. *In the 1942 film, ''

Yankee Doodle Dandy ''Yankee Doodle Dandy'' is a 1942 American biographical musical drama film about George M. Cohan, known as "The Man Who Owned Broadway". It stars James Cagney, Joan Leslie, Walter Huston, and Richard Whorf, and features Irene Manning, Geo ...

'', George M. Cohan (

James Cagney James Francis Cagney Jr. (; July 17, 1899March 30, 1986) was an American actor and dancer. On stage and in film, he was known for his consistently energetic performances, distinctive vocal style, and deadpan comic timing. He won acclaim and maj ...

) stays in a boarding house. *In the 1942 film, ''

The Magnificent Ambersons ''The Magnificent Ambersons'' is a 1918 novel by Booth Tarkington, the second in his ''Growth'' trilogy after '' The Turmoil'' (1915) and before ''The Midlander'' (1923, retitled ''National Avenue'' in 1927). It won the Pulitzer Prize for fict ...

'', the original ending took place in a boarding house. *The 1945 film, ''

The Woman in Green ''The Woman in Green'' is a 1945 American horror film, horror mystery film, the eleventh of the fourteen Basil Rathbone-Nigel Bruce Sherlock Holmes (1939 film series), ''Sherlock Holmes'' films based on the characters created by Arthur Conan Doy ...

'', shows a boarding house. *In the 1946 film, '' It's a Wonderful Life'', Mrs. Bailey owns a boarding house in the alternate universe known as Pottersville. *The 1950 film, '' Riding High'', briefly shows a boarding house. *In the 1950 film, '' Mystery Street'', Mrs. Smerrling (

Elsa Lanchester Elsa Sullivan Lanchester (28 October 1902 – 26 December 1986) was a British actress with a long career in theatre, film and television.Obituary '' Variety'', 31 December 1986. Lanchester studied dance as a child and after the First World ...

) owns a boarding house. *Much of the plot in the 1951 film ''

The Day the Earth Stood Still ''The Day the Earth Stood Still'' is a 1951 American science fiction film from 20th Century Fox, produced by Julian Blaustein and directed by Robert Wise. It stars Michael Rennie, Patricia Neal, Hugh Marlowe, Sam Jaffe, Billy Gray, F ...

'', takes place in a Washington, DC boarding house. *In the 1952 film, '' The Story of Will Rogers'',

Will Rogers William Penn Adair Rogers (November 4, 1879 – August 15, 1935) was an American vaudeville performer, actor, and humorous social commentator. He was born as a citizen of the Cherokee Nation, in the Indian Territory (now part of Oklahoma ...

( Will Rogers Jr.) stays in a boarding house. *In the 1957 film, '' The Buster Keaton Story'', The Keatons stay in a boarding house. *In the 1966 film, '' The Ghost and Mr. Chicken'', the main character and aspiring reporter, Luther Heggs (

Don Knotts Jesse Donald Knotts (July 21, 1924February 24, 2006) was an American actor and comedian. He is widely known for his role as Deputy Sheriff Barney Fife on the 1960s sitcom ''The Andy Griffith Show'', for which he earned five Emmy Awards. He als ...

), lives in a boarding house. *In ''

The Shootist ''The Shootist'' is a 1976 American Western film directed by Don Siegel and based on Glendon Swarthout's 1975 novel of the same name,Swarthout, Glendon (1975). ''The Shootist'', New York, New York: Doubleday. and written by Miles Hood Swart ...

'' (1976), J. B. Books (

John Wayne Marion Robert Morrison (May 26, 1907 – June 11, 1979), known professionally as John Wayne, was an American actor. Nicknamed "Duke", he became a Pop icon, popular icon through his starring roles in films which were produced during Hollywood' ...

) rents a room at a Carson City, Nevada boarding house. Dying of cancer, Books wishes to end his days in peace and quiet. But old enemies with scores to settle converge. *In the 1982 film '' Liar's Moon'', Jack Duncan and Ginny Peterson run away from their parents in Texas to marry each other and stay in a boarding house in Louisiana. * The film '' Tales from the Crypt: Demon Knight,'' takes place in a boarding house. It was once a church until it was turned into a boarding house. Brayker and the residents battle the demons in this boarding house. * Sandy Brooks and Nick Snowden the main characters in ''

Snow Snow consists of individual ice crystals that grow while suspended in the atmosphere—usually within clouds—and then fall, accumulating on the ground where they undergo further changes. It consists of frozen crystalline water througho ...

'' lived in a boarding house. *In ''

Brooklyn Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...

'', the main protagonist, Eilis Lacey, stays at a boarding house. *In the 2011 animated Film '' From Up On Poppy Hill'', the main character whose name is Umi, lives and helps her grandmother run a boarding house throughout the movie while her mother is abroad studying medicine in the USA.

Television

*Several episodes of

Alfred Hitchcock Presents ''Alfred Hitchcock Presents'' is an American television anthology series created, hosted and produced by Alfred Hitchcock, airing on CBS and NBC, alternately, between 1955 and 1965. It features dramas, thrillers, and mysteries. Between 1962 ...

feature and take place in boarding houses, such as "The Landlady" and "The Dusty Drawer". *A pair of puppet shows released on home video feature an older woman called Bubbie who runs a boarding house. Bubbie hosts her grandchildren and their friend for Hanukkah and Passover celebrations with her boarders; she takes a little time to explain to the young man delivering the Hanukkah groceries how a boarding house works. *Mr Bean lives in a boarding house in the early episodes. *In the cartoon '' Groovie Goolies'', the characters of that show reside at a boarding house called Horrible Hall that is located on Horrible Drive. *In the 1981 CBS

made-for-television A television film, alternatively known as a television movie, made-for-TV film/movie, telefilm, telemovie or TV film/movie, is a film with a running time similar to a feature film that is produced and originally distributed by or to a Terrestr ...

horror film Horror is a film genre that seeks to elicit physical or psychological fear in its viewers. Horror films often explore dark subject matter and may deal with Transgressive art, transgressive topics or themes. Broad elements of the genre include Mo ...

, Dark Night of the Scarecrow, the town's postman, Otis P. Hazelrigg, lives in Mrs. Bunch's boarding house. *The titular protagonist of the

Nickelodeon Nickelodeon (nicknamed Nick) is an American pay television channel and the flagship property of the Nickelodeon Group, a sub-division of the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global. Launched on April 1, 1979, as the first ca ...

television show '' Hey Arnold!'' lives in a boarding house (called "Sunset Arms") that's owned and operated by his paternal grandparents, Phillip "Phil" and Gertrude "Gertie" Shortman. *In ''

The Vampire Diaries ''The Vampire Diaries'' is an American supernatural fiction, supernatural teen drama television series developed by Kevin Williamson (screenwriter), Kevin Williamson and Julie Plec, based on the The Vampire Diaries (novel series), book series ...

'', Stefan and Damon Salvatore live in the old Salvatore Boarding house when they return to Mystic Falls. *In ''

The Andy Griffith Show ''The Andy Griffith Show '' is an American sitcom television series that was aired on CBS from October 3, 1960, to April 1, 1968, with a total of 249 half-hour episodes spanning eight seasons—159 in black and white and 90 in color. The series ...

'', Barney Fife is a long-term resident of a boarding house run by Mrs. Mendelbright. When she catches Barney cooking in his room with a hot plate, she asks him to leave. *The South Korean television series Reply 1994 is set in a nineties boarding house. *In the '' Torchwood'' episode " Immortal Sins", Jack Harkness, and his companion Angelo Colasanto stay in a boarding house. *The Canadian historical drama ''

Murdoch Mysteries ''Murdoch Mysteries'' is a Canadian television drama series that premiered on Citytv on January 20, 2008, and currently airs on CBC. The series is based on characters from the ''Detective Murdoch'' novels by Maureen Jennings and stars Yannick ...

'', set in

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

at the turn of the 20th century, features boarding houses in several episodes.

Podcasts

*Unwell: A Midwestern Gothic Mystery features a struggling boarding house run by Dot Harper.

Comics

*Many of the scenes in the comic strip ''

Bloom County ''Bloom County'' is an American comic strip by Berkeley Breathed which originally ran from December 8, 1980, until August 6, 1989. It examined events in politics and culture through the viewpoint of a fanciful small town in Middle America, whe ...

'' took place at the Bloom Boarding House (based on the real-life Linsay House) owned by the family of main character

Milo Bloom Milo Bloom is a fictional character in the American comic strip ''Bloom County''. He was originally the main character, but was soon overshadowed by his best friend Michael Binkley and later on by Opus the penguin. In ''Bloom County'' Milo i ...

. *'' Our Boarding House'' (1921–1984) was an American single-panel cartoon and comic strip set in a boarding house run by the sensible Mrs. Hoople.

Board games

* In

Fantasy Flight Games Fantasy Flight Games (FFG) is a game developer based in Roseville, Minnesota, United States, that creates and publishes role-playing game, role-playing, board game, board, card game, card, and dice game, dice games. As of 2014, it is a division of ...

' board game '' Arkham Horror'', numerous encounters occur at Ma's Boarding house.

Notes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Boarding House House types Affordable housing Living arrangements