Disappointment room

A disappointment room is a purposefully modified room, usually in an attic or basement, that was used to keep physically or mentally handicapped family members out of public view.^[1] These rooms existed in some places during the 18th and 19th centuries when laws were enacted to keep disabled people hidden, more commonly known as ugly Law.^[2]

In the 1847 novel Jane Eyre, one of the main characters, Edward Rochester, keeps his wife, Bertha, who is said to have gone mad, in a third floor room at their estate. Other stories throughout history have had similar themes. In the Harry Potter series, for example, Professor Dumbledore had a sister who was also kept hidden away.

Perhaps the most famous incident and well documented case is that of Rosemary Kennedy (c.1918-2005). Sister to the late President of the United States, John F. Kennedy, Rosemary displayed mental deficiencies from a young age and was ultimately given a lobotomy in 1941. Following this, she was moved to what became known as 'The Kennedy Cottage', built for her outside the grounds of St. Coletta’s School for Exceptional Children, where she lived out the rest of her days in relative secrecy and solitude.^[3]

Rhode Island judge Job Smith Carpenter (c. 1866-1906) and wife Frances Ellen Carpenter concealed their disabled daughter, Ruth, in a disappointment room. Current resident Laurie Dumas learned of the origin and the room was featured on the HGTV show If These Walls Could Talk in 2007. Dumas later created the nonprofit 'Ruthie's Room' in honor of the former occupant.^[4] The story was later optioned and turned into the 2016 film The Disappointments Room.

• 2007 HGTV's If These Walls Could Talk^[5]
• 2014 novel The Disappointment Room^[1]
• 2016 film The Disappointments Room
• 2025 HGTV's Scariest House in America season 2, episode 2^[6]