mother-in-law door

plural mother-in-law doors

1. NewfoundlandarchitectureAn exterior door on the front of a house without steps or a path, especially one that is elevated.

   Not wanting them to be "mother-in-law doors", I next needed to add a small porch and a way to get from the porch to the ground.

   2011 October 1, Frank Pellow, “Adding a porch and ramp to our log cabin”, in Family Woodworking, archived from the original on 30 Apr 2026

   2 more examples

   Locals told Jansen and her husband (presumably tongue in cheek) that such “mother-in-law doors” were for ushering out unwanted in-laws, but that’s not the only tall tale going around about these quirky designs.

   2021 April 4, Kurt Kohlstedt, “Doors to Nowhere: Elevated Front Entries in Newfoundland Raise Questions”, in 99% Invisible, archived from the original on 04 Apr 2021

   The only problem with this theory is that large swaths of rural Newfoundland and Labrador, where most mother-in-law doors are found, weren’t historically subject to property tax.

   2026 April 28, Ainsley Hawthorn, “Were N.L’.s ‘mother-in-law doors’ a tax avoidance strategy?”, in CBC.ca, archived from the original on 30 Apr 2026