Posted on 05/14/2019 4:10:42 AM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet
Jesus was not born in a stable. That's not to say the birth wasn't attended by farm animals — the Gospel of Luke tells us twice the baby's first bed was a feeding trough — but rather that the animals lived in the house.
Peasant homes in first century Bethlehem were designed with what we would today call an "open concept." They typically had one large room with the nicer living space in an open loft or on the roof, while the main floor area was where the family's animals would be brought for safekeeping at night. The guestroom that was unavailable to Jesus, Mary, and Joseph was that loft or roof space, and the big room where they stayed instead served as the kitchen, living room, dining room, and farmyard all at once. The defining feature of Jesus' birthplace was not isolation, as we often tend to think, but an utter lack of privacy: Mary delivered in a crowded farmhouse with few, if any, interior walls.
And that was perfectly normal, if not exactly desirable, for our modern fixation on the open floor plan is a historical anomaly. It flies in the face of literally millennia of consensus that more rooms is better, and it is a dreadful mistake. The last 70 years of open concept construction and remodeling has left us with dysfunctional houses, homes that are less conducive to hospitality, less energy efficient, and more given to mess.
The shift from open concepts demanded by necessity to widespread construction of separate rooms to open concepts demanded by style is relatively recent. Before the 17th century, especially for the poor, "rooms did not have specialized functions," explains architect Witold Rybczynski in Home: A Short History of an Idea.
(Excerpt) Read more at theweek.com ...
Yep. Quit reading after the first sentence.
Sounds great.
My kitchen is newly renovated... but I still like the dining room. Especially on holidays and special occasions. I eat in there too, it has a great view out the main window into the city park-across the street.
Oh, the horror! LOL!
Can you imagine what that looked like? It would have curdled my milk, I'll tell you.
I’m right on the page with you there.
As an aesthetic choice people should be free to choose what suits them. No way does Gv’t get to take over freedom of design other than saftey codes (which are IMO often arbitrary as well). I don’t believe in the whole “Save the Planet” gig.
It maybe that people are thinking black & white. Open space or all rooms with doors.
Open space as a design concept is just as likely to be a series of spaces that flow into one another with archways or a missing wall. Line of sight does not need to be the whole space but can be eat in kitchen with a dining alcove on the way the to the family room and on the other side of the kitchen a multipurpose room (playroom, craft room, storage space, den). Less walls but not no internal walls.
Just show her this one.
It’s not the open floor plan of today. It’s just perhaps the greatest house ever built by man.
The open plan works when you have kids and you have space for a formal, private living space. Else, it’s just like you say. You sacrifice lots.
The key is to make the house suit your lifestyle and not the 30 something’s with a “keep up with the Jones’s “ lifestyle.
No thanks. I love open concept. I paid a lot for my home and I want to feel like I'm living in all of it. People who complain about their messy kitchen just have too much crap. Get rid of all your crap, keep what you use and love, and you won't have a messy kitchen.
I have a dining room. It only has 3 walls and when we have lots of company we can turn the table & expand into adjacent space.
If you lose too many walls there is nowhere for pictures and the space becomes monotonous. It may be that the definition of open space is broader than people realize. Other commenters have borrowed from the Wiki article on the subject and the following is an additional part of that entry.
Frank Lloyd Wright was one of the early advocates for open plan design in houses,expanding on the ideas of Charles and Henry Greene and shingle style architecture. Wright’s designs were based on a centralized kitchen which opened to other public spaces of the home where the housewife would be “more hostess ‘officio’, operating in gracious relation to her home, instead of being a kitchen mechanic behind closed doors.”
Who wrote this crap? Jesus was born in a manger...
Hate open plans. Try hosting several couples over to watch a sporting event or something. Women congregate in one area, and men near the TV. Can’t hear yourself think because of the noise and clatter from the kitchen, not to mention the visible mess that must be cleaned up immediately.
To make it worse, these homes have hard surface floors and ceilings, adding to the noise.
We eventually found a modern home with a walled off kichen/dining/breakfast area and love it.
Nope. Just revisionist nonsense. Mary, Mother of Jesus, informed the Gospels, as she outlived her husband, Joseph, and Luke became somewhat of a confidante. She would not have misled the Gospel writers.
As a former builder I would say there is not much difference in the construction cost of “open” vs. traditional design. And in most cases, the cost to build increases in an open concept home.
There are many variables which tend to offset each other. Engineering costs? When you remove walls, the ceiling joists span greater lengths requiring the increase in material at load points and above the ceiling. Ceiling height? Vaulted or traditional? Open design tends to have more vaulted ceilings requiring an upgraded joist system. Open design also increases the square footage which also translates to more floor to finish. In the past number of years, that means more hardwood flooring as the preferred design choice.
Also, kitchens tend to be larger in open design, ergo, more tile. Cabinet space tends to actually increase as much of traditional cabinetry just moves to extended base cabinets and center islands. Oh, and more countertop space to cover.
Open design also requires a little more in the way of HVAC as it is more difficult to maintain temps in larger spaces. On the downside for the homeowner, it is a little more costly to heat and cool as well.
But as far as regretting open design? Maybe one man’s trash is another man’s treasure? And I can say I know plenty of friends who prefer an open concept. The fact that open concept homes have trended means a whole lot of people favor them. I’m reminded of the Yogi Berra line, “Aw, nobody goes there anymore, it’s too crowded.” :-)
As for me, I have lived in homes both open and traditional and much prefer open. Teenagers? Hah, my kids grew up in an open concept home and I had no problems with noise. When they hung out with their friends and watched movies or sports events, it was awesome. And I even sprang for the pizza delivery. When my daughter would practice playing her guitar, it was beautiful. Anyone can play the stereo, but when it is your child that is providing the music? Well, that’s just downright magical. With all that “noise”, the house was alive and it made my heart smile.
I live in a condo with an open floor plan. The kitchen, dining area and living room are all open with a cathedral ceiling that soars to 20’ at the peak.
I don’t host Thanksgiving anymore, but Christmas will see the two daughters and grandchildren who still live in this area, and another daughter’s stepdaughters and grandchildren gathered in this open area. Add in everybody’s significant others and we have 20 people in the space. We add a long table to our dining room table and scrounge up chairs from every room. Yes the kitchen is a dirty mess, and I set up a buffet wherever there is space. Some foods are served straight out of the slow cookers. So what? Nobody cares! Their kitchens are dirty too, and the idea is to be together!
I’m 74 years old and I don’t believe I have ever lived in a house that had a working door between the dining room and the kitchen. An archway, yes. A door? Never.
So this idiot knows more than the Apostles. Was she there? If not, keep your opinion to yourself; it makes you sound stupid.
You cooked your kids? How do they taste?
After having owned an “open concept” house with great room, kitchen and dining alcove all open to one another, I came to dislike it. The noise, the lack of defined spaces that can be closed off, for privacy or just to hide a mess if need be, is a problem. I actually thing a well laid-out 50’s or 60’s ranch with a separate paneled den on the back of the house beside the kitchen, a formal dining room and a formal living room works far better. If you don’t want to be hidden away in the kitchen, open it to the informal space, the paneled den on the back of the house. It’s really far more functional in the real world, and no echoes from that huge barn-like space in an open concept house. I think it’s popular because people think it makes the house look larger and more grand, it makes for pretty Instagram pictures. But it seldom stays that way, there’s absolutely nowhere other than bedrooms or maybe a bonus room over the garage, to get away from a mess, whether it’s made by small kids, a work project or what have you.
Amen.
I am in the Open Concept Camp, and having the grown kids and their spouses back home, hanging out in the kitchen/family room, is the best gift of all :)
Thank You Lord, for Free Will
Tatt
What’s the point of this?
Live where you want to live, you have a choice.
Having a desk in a kitchen is what I need (where all my to do paperwork, etc can be hidden).
Open design is generally group think socialist and separate room design promotes individualism and privacy.
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