WHAT ROOM IS CONSIDERED AS THE ADVENT OF THE 'MODERN' HOME'?

In early America, our first dwellings consisted of a single room with provision for the all-important hearth. Called the hall house, named after the great halls of European medieval times, it served the same multiple purposes although on a significantly smaller scale. It was not unusual to have up to a dozen people living in a dwelling. Furniture was minimal, stored against walls, and moved about as required. The dining table was generally a slab of wood placed on trestles that could be assembled when and where needed.

As homes evolved both in America and Europe, more rooms were added, but there was still no designated ‘dining room’. Wherever the master of the house decided to dine was where the dining table was placed.

In Europe, as the great hall declined in importance, and families dined more privately, dining rooms were added to homes. A permanent table was placed in the center of the room, and was not disassembled after use.

Thus, the first home with an interior design that functions as we know it today that includes a permanent dining room appeared in Europe in the early 1600s during the reign of England’s Charles I (during the Jacobean design period). 

The modern home as we know it today had arrived.