keeping room?

[dejr_8]

We are currently looking at house plans in North Carolina that feature a keeping room. What is a keeping room?

 

[iNTeNSeBLue98]

Never heard of it. I would guess either a mud room or foyer.

Okay, it bugged me so I performed a search and found this...

They're known as keeping rooms, morning rooms or hearth rooms. Whatever you call them, they're the seating areas closest to your kitchen and they're an often overlooked opportunity for style.

Most of the photos I found contained a fireplace.

 

[TigrLvsPooh]

Good ole Google knew the answer!



Revived from the colonial era, the keeping room is back. Originally a combination sitting/eating/cooking space, the keeping room was the only room sure to have a fireplace. The family gathered here not only to eat meals prepared at the hearth, but also to keep warm.

Today's version rejoins two latter-day offshoots of the original: the family room and the kitchen. Cooking family meals on the hearth has gone the way of the squarehead nail, and a thermostat keeps the whole house toasty with or without a fireplace. But keeping rooms still serve an important purpose: Today's families need emotional warmth more than ever.

One way to resurect the warmth of a colonial-style keeping room is to build it from scratch. For Gregg and Barbara Robins of New Albany, Ohio, the absence of barriers between work and seating space in an old-fashioned keeping room made it a natural choice for their new home. With two young boys and a penchant for entertaining, the Robinses have ample reason to relish the congenial nature of their cozy new keeping room.

In a nod to the past, they chose weathered red brick as the main design accent. In the work area, the brick's primitive texture thematically ties with the Robinses' fledgling collection of antiques and Southwesten accessories. Adding to the warmth are other natural materials: granite countertops, a copper hood and tiles, and terra-cotta drainpipes stacked to hold wine bottles.

But this space is no rustic relic. An important feature of its design is clean white cabinetry and soaring white vaulted ceilings, plus expanses of French doors, multistory windows, and skylights that invite cheery sunshine to spill into nearly every corner. The airy architecture makes this keeping room an enjoyable place to be no matter what the season. "In the summer," says Barbara "we open the doors wide and the room flows together with the patio and the garden. In the winter, we close the blinds, light a fire, and curl up with a good book."

As in keeping rooms of old, a fireplace is the focal point. The Robinses chose a colonial-style design that repeats the red brick of the accent wall. A rough-hewn timber became the mantel.

Easy access to the outdoors is important, too. Here, the French doors wrap around the informal eating area, scooping in big-screen views of the background. "On the last day of school," says Barbara, "our boys had 42 classmates over for a school's-out party. The keeping room was the playground," And when it's time for the adults to entertain, Gregg, as gourmet cook, doesn't miss a beat of conversation thanks to the keeping room's open policy.

Although the Greek Revival house that John and Laura Leslie remodeled in Southport, Connecticut, dates to an earlier era, it was too new to have an original keeping room. Gaining space to nurture close ties with their growing family was an absolute must, so the idea of adding a keeping room figured large in their remodeling plans. By reworking existing space and adding a comfy hearthiside sitting area, they infused their outmoded kitchen with the timeless warmth and charm of yesteryear's keeping room.