Visit the mega estates in Rhode Island to see how the ultra rich lived. The mansions were stone, I have to believe they were not very temperature controlled. Poor lighting, electronics, etc. I do believe we live better than the richest of rich back at the turn of the century.
A point on older houses:
Having lived in a wooden house built in the 1870s with only one open heating grate I can tell you they wee very well built to handle hot and cold. The design was such in my house that with one fan in the upstairs I could cool down the house to a fairly comfortable degree, I am sure the high ceilings had something to do with it. Maybe 5 to 10 days in the hottest part of the summer were unpleasant.
It is much worst to live in a 1970s house made with no though to convection cooling requirements. Comparing houses designed for the use with AC is not equivalent to houses designed before such existed.
Second air conditioning is only required because we are used to it, when it does not exist you get acclimatized to hot weather. By late August a 60 degree night seems cold and you put on a extra shirt, when in March you go out in shirt sleeves in such weather. Personally I think heat was more important and central heat in US homes dates back to at least the 1870s.
Living in a stone house showed me they can be very pleasant to live in , during summer with no AC. Typically the older houses had three floors plus the basement, and the upper tow were progressively cooler. With heat onto the ground floor alone they would remain relatively pleasant on the first and 2nd floor. The third floor was pretty much storage, as it was hot in summer and cold in winter.
Screens window covers date to no later than 1868 and were pretty widespread by 1900. Electric fans date from the 1880s and were less common in 1900, but by 1916 both window and ceiling circulation fans were much more common in homes.
Rural electrification was not so common in 1916, it was well past the 1920s when it became common.