The Conversation Pit Makes a Big Comeback in These Fabulous Sunken Living Spaces

Architect Ken Meffan lives in Rough and Ready, California, a tiny town in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada mountains where he spent a decade building his family’s home by hand. Rocks dug up during construction were saved and incorporated into the poured-concrete floors and walls. "If you make a building too perfect, it doesn’t give you that interesting feel," Meffan says.