Is there anything in common between Dutch doors and English windows?
Apparently in the Netherlands property taxes were linked to the size of the main-doors facing the streets or or waterfronts. So, in order to minimise their tax liability, houses began to be built with narrow doors and large windows. So large pieces of furniture would either be lifted into the house through the windows, or custom-made inside the house!
If the taxman overlooked the windows in the Netherlands, the situation was quite the opposite in England where, at one time, property taxes were levied on the basis of the size and number of windows that a house had. Here too the response of the aggrieved taxpayers was rather predictable - houses began to be built with fewer, smaller windows. It seems this had an unhappy ending for the families living inside because the lack of ventilation and sunlight led to a sharp increase in the medical cases relate to smoke inhalation and deaths due to lung infections.
It took more than 150 years (1696-1851) for the government to realise that the 'window tax' was not a very bright idea. This of course did not stop the government from trying out to squeeze revenue for the state from a wide range of other option - beards, hearths, wallpaper, or even playing cards!
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REFERENCES & LINKS
* Hirsute Pursuit - https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-35997919
* Window Tax - England, Scotland and France - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Window_tax
* Window tax in the Hague - https://ikgidsudoordenhaag.nl/en/window-tax-the-hague/
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