The Journal · Interiors
The Library: Heart of the Great House
Once a status symbol, the private library has become the most personal room in the house.
For centuries, a private library was proof of learning and leisure. Books were costly, and a room devoted to them told every visitor that the family had both the money to buy them and the time to read them.
From closet to great room
Early collections lived in small, private closets. By the eighteenth century the library had grown into one of the principal rooms of a country house, used for reading, letter-writing, conversation and even after-dinner music.
What makes a library feel right
- Shelving built into the walls, running to the ceiling, with a ladder or gallery for the top shelves
- A fireplace, because books and a fire belong together
- A large table or desk for spreading out maps, papers and folios
- Warm, low lighting, with good daylight from at least one window
- Deep chairs placed for reading, not for show
The library today
Modern homes have revived the library as a quiet room away from screens. It does not need to be large. A single wall of books, a good chair and a lamp can do what the great libraries always did: give the household a place to think.
