Conversation Pit

teak and oak flooring, whitewashed walls, and soaring ceilings

The outdoor sunken kitchen is a surprise feature, sitting beneath the elevated home.

In the living area, a cedar storage unit made by Grant features a five-by-five-foot sliding panel that conceals shelving and the television. “It’s a way to make it feel less like a TV room during the day,” Beer says. The sunken sofa—a throwback to the residents’ childhoods in the 1970s— is from the Houdini collection by King Living. The dining chairs were a secondhand purchase.

The sunken living room is just one of many grade changes inside the structure. “We were adamant that we didn’t want something domestic,” says Andrew. “We wanted something surprising, that was hyper-animated, and that, when you moved through it, changed all the time.” The sofa, designed by the couple and Levenbetts, is upholstered in cotton velvet. The Habibi side tables are by Philipp Mainzer for e15, the fireplace tools by Fort Standard, and the doors by Fleetwood.

The sunken living room features a multifunctional piece of built-in furniture that integrates a sofa, sound system, and television, and also contains a "secret door" that leads to a wine cellar. "[We incorporated this] as a clin d’oeil to the midcentury tradition of built-in work stations and bookshelves," says Morales.

A planter is integrated under the open staircase leading to the upper floor, and a skylight in the roof illuminates the stairwell.

Architect Nic Brunsdon renovated an original heritage cottage for a young family in the suburbs of Perth, Australia. The 3,229-square-foot home includes a sunken “garden room” with large sliding doors that connect the interior gathering space to a sunny green courtyard.

Conversation pit at the Miller House in Columbis, Indiana, a national historic landmark. Interior architectural design and curation by Alexander Girard in collaboration with Eero Saarinen and Dan Kiley.

“We didn’t want the pit to be an obtrusive contraption sitting in the center of a zen-like courtyard,” says architect Matthew Hufft. A low-profile fire pit is the perfect continuation of a mellow Missouri backyard. Photo by Mike Sinclair.

Perimeter overflow pool with sunken fire pit

In the downstairs living area, the walls sweep upwards toward skylights that protrude out and above the flora of the green roof. Next to the viewing area is a conversation pit accompanied by a hanging fireplace. A hole-punched, curving wooden panel separates the dining room.

Anchored by a drop-down fireplace, the living room's conversation pit also features shag carpet.

Wood burning fireplace and conversation pit surrounded by abundance of natural light

This Cupertino home features a conversation pit outfitted with a 250-square-foot configuration of Patricia Urquiola’s Tufty-Time sofa for B&B Italia. Overhead, flush-mounted LED strips demarcate the lounge area. - Cupertino, California Dwell Magazine : September / October 2017

A sunken velvet conversation pit is located in the heart of The Wing's new location in Dumbo, Brooklyn.

The Miller House and Garden features a custom-made sofa in the open-plan living area designed by Saarinen with textiles by Girard. The home was widely published and is in part credited for the popularity of conversation pits in the 1950s and 1960s.

The swanky mid-pool conversation pit was added by new owners during the renovation of a 1970s Brutalist villa in Sardinia, Italy.

Sunken Living Room with Conversation Pit

The curvy, off-white sofa, which forms a perfect conversation pit, was purchased on Ebay (and cost as much as it did to buy).