Back in the days of wooden shoes, home-owners paid property taxes based on home width. This encouraged narrow, tall houses and since a big staircase would take too much room, stairs in Amsterdam resemble ladders. This means furniture needs to be hoisted through windows (by using a large hook that sticks out of the top floor). All Amsterdam buildings have large front windows to swing in furniture, goods, or whatever. Some buildings slant forward on purpose so that hoisted furniture won't scrape the facade of the building and break every window on the way up. |