#221 Baker Street

[Arcadia]

My impression from "Study in Pink" is that John's bedroom is one flight up simply because 221B proper has only one bedroom -- Mrs. Hudson isn't renting out the next floor at that point (perhaps hasn't fully renovated it yet?), so she offers him one room up there.

What do you want to bet Sherlock's got all kinds of ... stuff ... stored up there? :D

[sfmpco]

That theory sounds good to me!  But then John would presumably have his own bathroom up there too.

[besleybean]

No he hasn't.  

Only one in 221B

Adjoining Sherlock's bedroom.

[sfmpco]

Unless it's an entirely unrented apartment up there.

[besleybean]

I feel like giving guided tours!

221B has 4 floors.

221C is in the basement.

Mrs H's flat is at ground level.

The main flat(with the only bathroom) is on the 1st floor.

John's room is the only one on the upper floor.

[Carol the Dabbler]

You seem very certain of only-one-bathroom, Bev, and I can't say that you're wrong, but neither have I seen any conclusive evidence that you're right.  Could you share your sources and/or deductive process with us?
 

What do you want to bet Sherlock's got all kinds of ... stuff ... stored up there? :D

Since John moved out, you mean? Doubt that you'll find any takers for that bet!

 

[Arcadia]

Actually, I think I misread something so I'll start from scratch ... it's my impression there's a whole 'nother floor above John's bedroom, right? And we assume it's not rented out, because we never see any other tenants. So I figure Sherlock commandeered it.

 

Now that John's gone I imagine he's commandeered that too!

 

I wonder if Mrs. Hudson really needs the rent money that much, I starting to think she just likes having a man around the house.

[Carol the Dabbler]

Right, it's a four-story (plus basement) building.  They didn't seem to admit to the very top floor at first, using camera angles to make it look like two or three -- but an establishing shot in "The Empty Hearse" clearly shows all four above-ground floors.

 

Right, no other tenants.  My head canon is that Mrs. Hudson bought the building with Frank's drug money, and got it for a low price because it was badly in need of refurbishing.  So she fixed up the ground floor apartment for herself, and also fixed up the apartment on the next floor -- but then she ran out of either steam or money, so there the rest of it sits.

 

I bet you're right -- Sherlock has all sorts of stuff squirreled away up there.  Probably no labs or anything, though, since it's a walk-up.

 

[Bakerstreet Irregular]

It is also mentioned at least in canon that Sherlock paid her a princely rent. So much so that she could have bought the full block.

[Carol the Dabbler]

Not quite that much, as I read it -- merely enough that he could have bought that one house from her:
 

... his payments were princely. I have no doubt that the house might have been purchased at the price which Holmes paid for his rooms during the years that I was with him.

In BBC Sherlock terms, the house would be basically Speedy's, the entryway beside it, Mrs. Hudson's quarters behind it, the three floors above all that, and the basement beneath.  But "our" Sherlock may not pay such a "princely" rent, since Mrs. H. gives him a special deal for ensuring that her husband was executed for murder.

 

[sfmpco]

Not only that, but with John on board, Sherlock remarked "WE should be able to afford it" although Sherlock was already moved in with or without John.

[besleybean]

John emerges form the bathroom in TRF...form the direction of the lobby leading to Sherlock's room(and the bathroom)...he would have come downstairs or entered the kitchen from the hall, if he'd come form any other bathroom!

[J.P.]

As Speedy is actually in 221A it might as well pay the highest rent. In the Pilot the local belonged to Mrs Hudson.

 

I wonder if Mrs. Hudson really needs the rent money that much, I starting to think she just likes having a man around the house.

 

My old landlady was a little bit like that. She didn't really need the money, the rent from two flats was helping her to pay the costs, and there was always someone in the house to help her when needed. But she didn't live with us to a degree Mrs Hudson does. I could put a lot of money aside because the rent was so cheap. Bless her...

[sfmpco]

If John's room is the only thing up there, then he has an extraordinarily big room.

[Carol the Dabbler]

John emerges form the bathroom in TRF...form the direction of the lobby leading to Sherlock's room(and the bathroom)...he would have come downstairs or entered the kitchen from the hall, if he'd come form any other bathroom!

 

Yes, I believe you're correct about John coming out of Sherlock's little bedroom suite.  But that doesn't necessarily mean that he has no bathroom facilities upstairs.  I can think of three possibilities: 1] He has a toilet and sink, but no tub/shower; 2] He has a tub but prefers a shower; or 3] He has a shower but prefers a tub.  And that's not even counting 4] The water pressure is really anemic up there (I had an apartment like that once) or 5] His drain was clogged that day.

 

If John's room is the only thing up there, then he has an extraordinarily big room.

 

It may be the only finished room up there, but I doubt that it actually takes up the entire floor!  :P

[sfmpco]

It's a nebulous "room upstairs" that has no design rhyme or reason but it doesn't matter since we'll never see it.

[besleybean]

It would be nice if we did!

[sfmpco]

It would be nice if we did!

 

Well, if he ever moves back into 221B, maybe we will.

[besleybean]

Here's hoping!

[J.P.]

A whole album of newly uploaded photos from 221B on Flickr

 

It's no wonder that they have budget issues. Look at the curtain fabric! Is it a gold thread?   The other wallpapers seem also to be pricey...

[sittything]

I've always assumed there are other rooms up there besides John's bedroom, but that they're probably closed up, in disrepair, and maybe full of junk.  I rented an old, 8-bedroom Victorian house just out of college with 6 friends.  4 proper bedrooms were on the 2nd floor of the house, and another 4 bedrooms were up on the 3rd floor of the house (servants bedrooms).  Of the 4 servants rooms, we were only allowed use of 2 (which is all we needed), but the others were in poor shape, locked, and supposedly full of the owners junk.  So I just applied this scenario to the floor John is on.   ;)

 

ETA:  I've also assumed that the very top floor is probably also in disrepair and unused, like the basement.  

[sfmpco]

Well, she wouldn't be able to rent that bedroom out alone.  It has to go with 221B or not all if it has no toilet facilities.  Therefore it is ONLY for 221 as a 2nd bedroom.

[Carol the Dabbler]

That's IF it has no toilet facilities.  Which it may / may not.

 

But yeah, entirely possible that the rest of that floor (and presumably all of the one above it) is not in particularly habitable condition.

 

[sfmpco]

Sherlock's bathroom - somehow I get the feeling he's growing experiments in there.  Maybe Janine cleaned it up.

[Arcadia]

Sherlock's bathroom - somehow I get the feeling he's growing experiments in there.  Maybe Janine cleaned it up.

Unintentionally, you mean? :D