Old phone box?
I'm renting a house in the SF Bay that was built around 1900. In the hallway there's this odd door that I at first thought was the fuse box. But when I opened it, it was a blocked-off hole with a heavy woven cord sticking out.
There's also a switch in the stairwell that looks like a big lightswitch. My roommate thinks that this might have been a ringer for an upstairs bell. Does anybody know what this might have been?
The box (with towel shelf for scale)
It looks like there might have been a shelf here originally.
With the door open. You can see the cord here.
The inside of the door. There's a distinct groove down the middle, with a circular indent right in the very center.
Edit: Sounds like my roommate was right! Thanks to everyone who replied.
There's also a switch in the stairwell that looks like a big lightswitch. My roommate thinks that this might have been a ringer for an upstairs bell. Does anybody know what this might have been?
The box (with towel shelf for scale)
It looks like there might have been a shelf here originally.
With the door open. You can see the cord here.
The inside of the door. There's a distinct groove down the middle, with a circular indent right in the very center.
Edit: Sounds like my roommate was right! Thanks to everyone who replied.