Dictionary

mother-in-law door en · NOUN

Meanings

1. (Newfoundland) An 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:
   • 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:
   • 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:

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