Windows Inside the House?

We have a row of tilt windows on the wall that divides the dining room from the kitchen. I've tried doing some research on google, but unfortunately I just get page after page discussing windows on the outer walls of the house. Any smarties out there know the windows purpose if they were made to be inside? Heat/air transfer? Or any other thoughts on what you think happened? When we first looked at the house we planned on removing that wall to expand the kitchen. Of course, it is the first thing that attracts guests when they walk into the dining room and they all say "no!" when we tell them our plans. We have to reassure them that we want to repurpose the windows later on. There's an attic that we hope to turn into a guest suite/storage room down the road. I was advised to just live in the house as-is for a while and let IT dictate what you really need to change. I'm glad I listened to that advice. The kitchen remodel I wanted to start on immediately has been put off because we are quickly realizing that the upstairs bathroom just isn't working for us. All of a sudden that small kitchen became not so bad;) Wrestling with shower curtains every morning in a cumbersome clawfoot tub? Not so good. (This is the staging furniture. Our dining set can be seen in this post)