Working from home may feel like a whole new thing with its own hashtag in the pandemic, but it’s just the latest turn in the history UMBC assistant professor Elizabeth Patton traces in her new book, "Easy Living: The Rise of the Home Office."

From colonial times, when families lived and and worked in shared space, Patton notes that in the 1800s changes in the economy created a boom for middle and upper class families that changed their home layouts.