Reading the Regency

A Glossary of Property Terms - part 1

"Residences," as he practically remarked, "such as cannot be seen in any country in the world but England; and not only fine places such as these, but from the cottage to the palace—'the homes of Old England' are the best homes upon earth."
[Chapter 10, Helen, by Maria Edgeworth]

In this glossary I'm listing some of the terms you might come across to describe parts of a house, various types of room, architectural elements and outbuildings. Some of them are still common in Britain (and other parts of the world) today, while others might only be found in historic houses or stately homes.

Rooms

"My dear Lady Elliott, do not be uneasy. The dining-parlour will admit eighteen couple with ease; card-tables may be placed in the drawing-room; the library may be open for tea and other refreshments; and let the supper be set out in the saloon."
[Chapter 36, Sense and Sensibility, by Jane Austen]

Every house in Britain was made up of one or more rooms. The smallest cottage might consist of one single room, which would have been used for living, eating and sleeping, while a large number of small houses were "two up, two down"; meaning two rooms on the ground floor and to rooms above. The largest house in the country boasted 365 rooms of all types. Some rooms were functional, while others were created purely for leisure, or to reflect the taste and fortune of the house's owner.

Some of these rooms, like bedrooms and kitchens, will be familiar to modern readers, while a few types of rooms may today only be found in palaces and large country houses.

This first page lists rooms that could be found inside a house or architectural elements used by people that are attached to a house but accessed from the inside.

Ante-Chamber - a small room that leads into another room, particularly one of the main rooms of the house. Sometimes called an anti-room. Generally found in the largest houses, it provided a waiting area for visitors, or for servants waiting to be called.

Back Room - a general term that could refer to any kind of room located at the back of a house, or behind a shop.

Balcony - an area immediately outside a door or window, usually on the first floor of a house. Balconies were not only found in country houses but in larger townhouses too. If there was no external space for a balcony, but the room had floor length windows, they would install a balconet, or false balcony, which provided a railing outside for safety.

Ballroom - dedicated ballrooms were not quite as common in private homes as the average romance novel might have you believe. They were sometimes found in large country houses, but even there they had large rooms that could become ballrooms where necessary.

In townhouses, they would clear a large saloon or drawing room of furniture to create a temporary ballroom, or open folding doors to convert two parlours into a larger area for dancing. Ballrooms as rooms in their own right became more popular as the 19th century progressed, when later styles of dancing, such as the waltz, required more space.

"The first time Belinda ever saw his lordship, he was dead drunk in the arms of two footmen, who were carrying him up stairs to his bedchamber."
[Chapter 1, Belinda by Maria Edgeworth]

Bedchamber/Bedroom - by the early 17th century 'bedroom' became as popular as its earlier form of bedchamber, as the room containing a bed where you would sleep. Maria Edgeworth used bedchamber in her novels but never bedroom. Jane Austen used both terms, but she used bedroom more often than bedchamber.