Together but Separate

By Steve D. Eutsler

June Fletcher with the Wall Street Journal reports that “Carl and Tiffany Ledbetter like to spend time at home together—just not necessarily in the same room. So they built a 3,600-square-foot house with special rooms for studying and sewing, separate sitting areas for each child, and a master bedroom far from both. Then there’s the “escape room,” where any family member can go to get away from everyone. “The Mercer Island, Wash., industrial designer says his 7- and 11-year-old daughters fight less, because their new house gives them so many ways to avoid each other. “After two decades of pushing the open floor plan—where domestic life revolved around a big central space and exposed kitchens gave everyone a view of half the house—major builders and top architects are walling people off. They’re touting one-person ‘Internet alcoves,’ locked-door ‘away rooms’ and his-and-her offices on opposite ends of the house. The new floor plans offer so much seclusion, they’re ‘good for the dysfunctional family,’ says Gopal Ahluwahlia, director of research for the National Association of Home Builders. However, William Sherman, chairman of the department of architecture and landscape architecture at the University of Virginia, says all the cut-up spaces make families more isolated and lonelier than ever. ‘People don’t even gather in the same spot to watch TV anymore,’ Mr. Sherman says. ‘It’s sad.’ “