RealEstateJournal New Floor Plans Provide Peace, Quiet and Privacy: "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. ...
Designers say the new antisocial architecture is partly a backlash against the enforced camaraderie of the residential layouts of the '80s and '90s, with their "great rooms" and shared spaces that made it tough to get away from it all (and tougher to hide messes from guests). "