The first floor of the "House of All Sorts" was originally two rentable suites referred to by Emily as Lower West and Lower East. These suites remained separated until 1932 when Emily approached the city of Victoria with her idea of converting the first floor of her house into a
"Peoples Gallery".
The Lower West and Lower East Flats were both vacant during this time. Emily had a connecting door installed between the two suites to demonstrate how well the house was suited for a gallery. The City of Victoria eventually denied funding towards the gallery and Emily closed the connecting door.
There is now a stairway and a seperate entrance which leads to the second floor between the Lower West and Lower East Flats.
