Open concept homes, fad or long lasting style?

[Kayekaye]

When I had a tri-level split built for me the plan was to have all three levels open to each other. But I had the bottom level closed off with a door and a wall. Glad I did too as my kids aged I didn't have to listen to the music blasting and the same movie over a hundred times. I also had the kitchen at the back of the house, not up front like the plans wanted. Didn't want to have to have it perfect every minute. Some open floor plans are nice but like that article posted above says, you have to get some privacy.

[TheOverdog]

Sometimes I think people (maybe not you specifically, but a lot of people) assume all kitchens that are not in plain view of the rest of the house are automatically dinky little closets.

I don't know - I've been in a lot of houses in multiple (US) states and watch a lot of home improvement tv shows. Most of them are the equivelent of dinky little closets, especially at median and below price points.

[pbmaise]

I know a rather nice home in Illinois. Seems it is over, what, 60 years old by now.

[James1202]

Originally Posted by Merc63

As I've posted in other threads, open concept ahs been around for centuries, especially in smaller homes and cotages where space is at a premium and walled of rooms would be tiny. So no, it's not really a fad and isn't going to go away any time soon, as it's a practical way to get light and traffic flow in a smaller to mid size house.

For example, this '50s home has the kitchen behind and slightly off to the left of this open plan:



Here's a smaller '50s house that has the living room, dining room and kitchen all open to each other:



I lived in a '50s home that was pretty much a mirror image of this next one, but with no walls low or otherwise, between the kitchen and dining. And from the front door you could see straight through the living room, dining room into the kitchen:



here's an even older on where the living and dining are essentially one room and only the kitchen is partially closed off...



These are all basically open concept small homes.

Merc63, It isn't an open floor plan if the only thing connecting the kitchen to the rest of the house is a doorway. One of the mid-century plans above fit the characteristic of an open floor plan. Would you happen to have any floor plans from before 1940? How about, say, any residence from anytime between 1800-1910.

[James1202]

Originally Posted by DanielAvery

I'd heard that parts of France used to tax its citizens on the basis of how many rooms their home had, the implication being that the wealthy would have many more rooms in their much-larger houses. (This also explained the mansard roof, since that space was called "attic space" by tax assessors and thus not taxed, but was turned into living space, but that's not relevant) So it became a status symbol to have a house with lots of rooms. It meant you had "made it" and was well-off. When people moved to America, they went nuts with multiple, tiny rooms for all sorts of things in their tiny homes because of this. The US obviously did not tax you by your rooms, so it was the best of both worlds--the feeling of being well-off without having to pay the tax man for that feeling. It took several generations for people to work that concept out of their minds, that lots of small rooms equaled prestige.

You have it wrong. The tax was on the # of floors below the eaves; hence the Mansard roof.

[melizza]

I insisted on a open floor plan when we bought our first house. We entertain fairly often and I try to have most of the food ready by the time our guests arrive. But it seemed every time I went into the kitchen for drinks or whatever, someone would say something funny and I would hear everyone cackling in the living room.

Without the wall, I don't miss any of the jokes.