Kind of want to see the deck... also, that's a snazzy sign you had made.

Im gonna steel your blanket/j THE KITTIES WILL BE MINE muahaha

Cats never pay rent. Now you know.

Going to take a stab in the dark on this one. Those stairs most likely connected to outdoor storm shelter doors.On older homes that had basements there were ground level doors that gave access from outside the home. People called them storm shelters. Usually seen in places that have high tornado activity. We had a detached underground tornado shelter at our old house. Never used but it gave good piece of mind. We now live on the coast and don't have a storm shelter but plan on having one dug in this summer. Would rather have a basement but the ground here makes it hard to keep out water. Sorry I got off topic.

I had a stove that had a socket...I miss that stove

It's for firewood.

I can’t believe this person had no guess at all.

It was designed this way to store firewood, I believe

For logs!

It's for stacking and drying firewood!

Wood you moron

That's for stacking wood, keep it dry and nearby, ready for the fireplace.

Got wood?

There may be vents leading from the fireplace to bring more heat to the room through these spaces

Its suppose to hold the stacked up chopped pieces of firewood.

Weird thing is that it's a gas fireplace and always has been...lol

It was actually used to cook in but I can't remember how exactly. I'm from a town settled in 1626 and there are historic homes with these

What?????

Your choice to put kindling in it it was meant for logs ;)

Lordy, lordy. HVAC pro here... in the colder months, having supply vents by the windows allows drafts to be warmed before entering the living space and making people feel chilled. It also prevents the convection that would exacerbate the stack effect in homes- it draws less unconditioned air into the home. There are so many resources out there to solve ignorance, yet why give up that blyss?