Boarding houses no longer a thing of the past

By Justine Doherty
Updated June 5 2017 - 12:29pm, first published June 2 2017 - 4:30pm
The boarding house proposed for March Street, Richmond. The front face is the darker face to the left. A gated driveway runs down the side.
The boarding house proposed for March Street, Richmond. The front face is the darker face to the left. A gated driveway runs down the side.

IN THE 19th and 20th centuries it was quite common for people to take in “lodgers” in their homes for a little extra income. Lodgers would have meals provided and could use the bathroom but that was all. If you did this on a grander scale, it became a boarding house, usually run by a mature woman.