Why Do We Call Building Floors “Stories”?

Most people think the word “story” came from realtors trying to sell you a broom closet as a cozy starter home. The truth is older, weirder, and just Kentucky enough to make sense.

Most folks assume stories are just the levels of a building.

Your house is a one-story home. Your boss lives in a two-story home. Your favorite bourbon sits on the top shelf like a royal sentry.

But there is a genuine reason we use the word story. It started long before Kentucky existed and long before KFC.

And the truth is actually amazing.

It All Started in Medieval Europe

Back in the Middle Ages, wealthy families decorated the outside of their large stone homes with painted panels.

These panels were filled with scenes from religious stories, legends, myths, and heroic tales.

Each level of the house had its own picture. And each picture told a different story.

People walked by these homes and pointed at the third level. They would say, “That level shows the story of Saint George fighting a dragon.” Or “That level shows the story of a king chasing a wild boar.”

Eventually, people stopped saying the story on the second level and said the second story.

The art faded away. The word stayed.

Where Kentucky Fits In

Kentucky is not known for medieval castles. But we understand the idea of telling a story with a building better than anyone.

If medieval Europe painted its stories on the side of a house, Kentucky tells its stories on the front porch, in the barn, at the gas station, in a deer stand, or at a booth in Waffle House at 2AM.

Every Kentucky home is a two-story home. The first story is the building itself. The second story is everything that has ever happened on that porch.

We do not paint our stories. We pass them down like folklore.