Doorways

The older the house, the less likely is it that corridors feature in the design. In some cases you go through one bed chamber to reach another. Maybe our ancestors perceived corridors as dead space, or possibly they never even thought of them as useful. Perhaps they weren't as mindful as we are now of the need for privacy. Maybe they were very sociable. Whatever is the reason, your cousin has raised an interesting point for discussion. Some architectural historian might see this and add some facts to augment my flimsy supposition.