I'm going to be pedantic. Just thought I should put that out there. Not in a pissy way, but in a "plagued by a small mystery that won't let me go" way. And there's no actual answer, but that never stops me from speculating, because speculation often yields plot bunnies.
To begin with, here are John and Sherlock meeting outside 221B on January 29, 2010. We know it's actually 189 North Gower Street, where the exteriors of the building were filmed for BBC Sherlock, because the real 221B Baker Street is a tourist destination with too many Sherlock Holmes signs that would need to be concealed.
Fun Fact: When ACD wrote A Study in Scarlet, 221B Baker Street did not exist. When Baker Street was extended, 221 was part of a block owned by Abbey National Building Society. People used to write letters to Sherlock Holmes there, and the company had a full-time secretary to answer his mail.
You will note that the door of the building displays the address: 221b. In most fanfiction I've read (and written), "B" is the flat where Sherlock lives. Mrs Hudson lives in A, and C is the basement flat, where nobody lives.
First mystery: why does the door show a flat number, if the entire building is 221?
I do have an answer for this one: when ACD moved Holmes into the building in 1887, 221b was the address of the building. No flat numbers. At that time, when new buildings went up between existing (already numbered) buildings, it was common to attach a letter to the address. So the fictional 221b was a building that went up between 221 and 222 (which also didn't exist at the time). In some places, such addresses have "1/2" appended.
(Also: the Sherlock Holmes Museum, which is at 221b Baker Street, is physically located at 234 Baker Street, a fact which causes my OCD to flare.)
So (to be pedantic), Sherlock's flat doesn't have a number. Nor does Mrs Hudson's. The building is 221b.
Here is the exterior of 221b Baker Street:
And here is the exterior of 189 North Gower Street:
Note that they are both Victorian terraced row houses with four storeys.
Second mystery: Speedy's occupies the ground floor, with Mrs Hudson's flat behind. Sherlock lives on the floor above (the 'first floor' if you're a Brit, the 'second floor' if you're American). And John's bedroom is on the floor above that.
So: what's on the floor above John's room?
Why hasn't Mrs Hudson rented out the rest of her building?
Also: does John's room take up the entire second (third) floor?
What's up there, on the top floor?
That's where my plot bunnies live, on the top floor of 221b Baker Street.
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