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I have a basement in two of my homes, but no bar. If I did, i'd also build a portal to 1977 and invite Farrah Fawcett, Ricardo Montalban, and Pete Rose over for Harvey Wallbangers.
Agree. I miss both. But like you, no basements where I live today. Wood was a great look and comforting for guests to socialize and mingle. Not much entertainment space in many homes today.
the kitchen with an adjacent "family room" it is now the entertaining area.
all the new houses are laid out like this.
Back in 1978/79, my foster dad built on to the home. Lower level 'game room', complete with a pool table, ping pong table, poker table...and the elite bar, complete with a beer tap and wine bin.
Yes it had the fake wood paneling on the one wall. The other wall had a dart board .
That gathering space had alot of memories for us. The add on fit the layout of the home....
Apparently now the 'entertaining' room is more tech geared items. Or themed room - man cave, kids play area. Memorabilia....
Only connosoirs would invest in such an area...wine tasting room/wine cellar. Bourban bar. Those seem to be the new bar of today's home owners...
My grandparents had a bar in their basement. Teal Formica counter top with white squiggly "triangle" design on it. By the time I came along, the bar was never used. The basement had become the grand kids' play room.
The house we are in now had wood paneling and a small bar. However, right before we bought it, someone had started tearing all that out and just an outline on the floor where the bar was and bits and pieces of the paneling are all that's left.
My sister put in a bar in their home when they bought it in 1988. Oak bar with brass rails, built in floor to ceiling shelves on a mirrored wall. Nicer than a lot of bars I've been to. Jukebox, pinball machine, slot machine and a billiard table are down there also. They even put in a small dance floor.
Yup we had a full bar in the basement, the basement was entirely wood paneled- Remember it well. I was a kid in the 70's.
My dad had a commercial under counter refrigerator- the stainless steel chest with the slide doors. He also had a tap- an old Pabst one and he had a Pabst barkeep figurine with outstretched arms with beers on it. Red and white striped shirt. I remember it well.
In 2010, I designed and built a large modern house with a bar, pool table, home theater, office and wine cellar in the basement. Sold the house to a doctor, hope he's enjoying it and the insane property tax bill that's as much as my mortgage now.
There were a lot of them. From the era when more working adults had time to socialize & energy to host at home.
Usually only one worked outside the home back then, so there was a different dynamic. It also gave couples and groups an opportunity for the women to socialize as well as the men. Nowadays my wife and I work so much we have very little energy left to socialize, much less host - and that was pre-COVID.
the kitchen with an adjacent "family room" it is now the entertaining area.
all the new houses are laid out like this.
In my house it's called the "keeping room". Kitchen, keeping room off to the side, mud room to the other side, then flows into the kitchen dining area, living room and then dining room.
I do have a finished basement but aside from a man cave area (which I don't use as a bar) it has other purposes than entertaining.
I have a basement in two of my homes, but no bar. If I did, i'd also build a portal to 1977 and invite Farrah Fawcett, Ricardo Montalban, and Pete Rose over for Harvey Wallbangers.
And Ricardo's car would have Rich Corinthian Leather...
Edit: if you search for and watch the original Chrysler ad note he says it's a "small Chrysler". Yes, this car was considered small at 18 feet long.
Last edited by markjames68; 10-27-2020 at 01:21 PM..
In my area (a good portion of houses built in the 90's or 2000's) basement bars are very popular. The wood paneling, not so much, but basements are generally entertainment areas with bars, pool/card tables, large TVs, etc. Many of the basements are walk-up or walk-out, so yes it becomes an indoor extension of an outdoor space.
It is not uncommon during parties/events for the crowd to "split" (often by gender) with one group near the kitchen and other main floor areas and another group at the basement bar.
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