What term do you use for the area that connects the entrance of your house to the main living areas? Is it a passage, hallway, corridor or even a gallery?

In history, it was only the grander houses that had this luxurious area of space as you entered the building. Smaller homes usually comprised only one room where the whole family lived.

Prior to the 16^th Century European aristocracy had many rooms used for varying functions, such as living rooms, dining rooms, and bedrooms, which were interconnecting, and people could walk through private spaces at any time. It was only in 1597 that architect John Thorpe was recorded as adding a long hallway to his design, allowing rooms to be accessed separately.

In medieval castles and grand palaces, the entrance hall was commonly used for formal gatherings such as dances. Whilst in the professional environment, these were the place to do business. When we think of financial houses such as that depicted in the Harry Potter films, they show Gringotts banking hall as a bustling area for public access, with smaller rooms for deposit boxes housed in more secure areas of the building out of sight.

Other designs for hallways were also used as a protection from sun exposure, with a corridor in front of rooms that face the sun to provide cooler spaces for people to live and work.

Over time, when we moved to multi-level living and domestic houses as we know them today, the term ’hallway’ became more commonly known to refer to smaller passages within our homes connecting spaces and providing circulation space.

As we explored in our previous article [Open Plan Living article]*, modern homes increasingly blur the boundaries between spaces. Yet the hallway remains an important feature, offering a welcoming space to the home, guiding us towards the heart of family living.