Sidebar: William L. Murphy, who was born in Columbia, California moved to San Francisco at the turn of the century where he met his future wife. He lived in a one-room apartment that had a standard bed taking up most of the floor space. Because he wanted to entertain, he began experimenting with a folding bed, and applied for his first patent around 1900.
There is a resurgent of beds that fold up and pull out from the walls. These are not your grandfathers Murphy Beds!