This is 99% invisible. I'm Roman Mars.

The first proper single family house I rented in the Bay Area

had a weird cabinet in the kitchen.

I actually didn't notice it was weird for a long time. From the inside it just kind

of blended in with other kitchen cabinets, but one day I noticed from the outside of

blend it in with other kitchen cabinets, but one day I noticed from the outside

that there were louvered vents in the wall

that brought outside air into just that cabinet.

After a fair amount of online digging,

I discovered that this is called a California cooler.

It's mostly useful for storing fresh fruits and vegetables.

Cool air flows in from the lower... for storing fresh fruits and vegetables.

Cool air flows in from the lower vent,

while warmer air flows out the upper one.

Screens are usually there to keep bugs out,

although I don't think mine had a screen anymore, and slats are there to deflect the rain.

California coolers were pretty popular a century ago around the Bay Area.

They work quite well to keep food cold if you live within a pretty narrow

band of extremely hospitable temperate climate. The refrigerator and the general preference for her medically sealed houses made the California

cooler somewhat obsolete.

So most of them were removed or retrofitted into boring old regular cabinets. But for a while anyway, the East Coast

had its larders, the Midwest made great use of its sellers, and California had coolers.

...