Homes in the 1940s Many children in the 1940s lived in small houses or flats. In towns, many people lived in small terraced houses. There were blocks of flats too, though not as tall as the 'tower blocks' built after the war. A typical family house had a sitting room and kitchen, with two or three bedrooms upstairs. Not all houses had bathrooms or indoor toilets. Many houses had windows stuck over with paper tape. In an air raid, the blast-force of a bomb exploding could shatter windows along a street. Tape across the windows stopped the glass shattering into thousands of pieces, and causing injuries.