Remove...the thought of the dust collecting up above would drive me nutty. I would be inclined to not want my front door opening to my dining room so I might think about making it at actual entry way with a real wall to the ceiling.

It depends upon where you live, partly.

If you live in a warmish, dry climate and think engineered wood will hold up right inside the door, maybe remove it altogether.

Personally I like a defined entry so I might do this, and keep a more durable floor in the entryway

I think the vaulted ceiling might make creating a wall a bit of challenge. I will have to search for some inspiration pictures - I am terrible at visualizing on my own.

Thanks pal - we live in Florida and engineered hardwood shouldn't be a problem. Are you suggesting doing a different flooring in the entry to keep the space defined?

Sorry - just saw the photo you included - I understand now!

I would take that thing out and define the foyer by using a special pattern just in that area, when installing your new flooring. "The thing" reminds me of an unfinished arbor, odd.

The sky's the limit AFA patterns go, but in this example they used different wood stains to define space

I don't mind it as is. I like the openness vs. closing off a fairly small space, which would make the entry claustrophobic to me, plus you would lose that nice light from the window that brightens the dining room, too. Having the space delineated from the dining is appealing to me. I doubt it would be a deal breaker for a buyer; let them take it out of they hate it, but I wouldn't.

Those things are weird as all get out and I hate them, but they are extremely common in most of FL. If I were planning to sell I just wouldn't worry about it. Any other home that potential buyers would consider in your development will have one, too, most likely.

ETA I'd buy enough overage of the engineered wood that the buyers would have flooring to use if they decide to rip it out.

New flooring, yes. Tear down column thing, no. I don't think it would stop anyone from buying the house. If someone wanted it gone, it would only be a minor renovation. Also, some buyers might like having a defined foyer, instead of opening the front door and walking right into the DR or LR like it was an apartment.

To me, it doesn't work because of the vaulted ceiling. This is a prime opportunity to remove that thing. I would do it for re-sale value alone. Removing it isn't going to increase the value of your house, but I think as least a few people would pass on the house because of it.

I like a tiled entryway.

Why is it that people suffer and live with features they don't like and make it right for the next owner, who might or might not appreciate it? The "thing" would have been gone eons ago in my world, esp. b/c an easy project.

If it is easy to remove, then do so. but, I would not invest in another renovation to replace it.

I like the idea of a different pattern to define the space.

Or, simply put a nice area rug there and that will do the trick.

The odd thing is that you have the open sides and then the obstructed portion where the column is.

Thanks all - "the thing" as it shall be known henceforth has been on the to-do list for years but it seemed there was always another priority. Roof, HVAC, windows, college tuition, etc. It rises to the top now with the flooring replacement.

I'm adding a couple of photos to show these bump outs that, to me, might make it harder to just rip out. Do you all see this as a problem?

would irritate me as hell

so either remove if easy..or enclose as Palimpsest suggested(which I'd prefer)..or, really like the idea of reworking it as illustrated by chijim..have a feeling though will get more expensive, and needs to be considered differently for your space. Depends on how sure you are about leaving the house..you know we make plans but then it goes its own way..but if you're really sure about leaving I won't do a big project out of it. If you feel it can turn either way..then yes, maybe idea worth at least looking into.

rubyclaire, assuming there no wiring or piping behind bumps, would be easy to remove and patch. But the only way to know is by worker opening a hole and peeking. Easy to patch if he finds stuff. And apologies for implying you can't sort out thru priorities like kids education, A/C, etc. not what I meant but it sure sounded like it.

bossy - no apologies necessary. Believe me, I also prioritized plenty of frivolous things as well. Designer handbags and shoes come to mind.

It's funny, but it has always bugged me but I just got used to it and didn't really "see" it anymore. These photos really highlight its "oddness".

It is entirely in the realm of possibilities that we will keep this house - probably 50-50 right now. We built a new house a few years ago close to my husband's winery business. It's a lovely home but I'm starting to think I may not like living there full-time. It is a much more rural area and while it is fun to spend some time there, I miss the restaurants, shopping and cultural events that we have easy access to in our university town. Either we sell both houses and build/buy one in between the two or keep both. So...best to do whatever we are going to do with the thing now when we do the floors.

chijim - those are great ideas for this area!

I'd remove it.

I wonder if we could create a couple of these where the bump outs are to sort of define the space without dramatically changing the openness?

entrance · More Info

Or lower...

Linden Hills Residence · More Info

I would take it out. It reminds me of a canopy bed but not in a good way. No wall, esp. not a partial wall which turns it into a strange entry cube.

An entry cube...:))

I'd remove or put windows in and make it a real entry . . . but I would also go up to the ceiling and add walls on top of what you have.

If you take it out or modify it keep in mind that you probably won't recoup the expense when you sell. If you hate it, by all means change it but don't do it just for resale purposes.

Those entries are common in FL so your home won't be at a disadvantage if you don't change it.

I would remove it. I think it dates your house.

Jeane - as to dating the house...tip of the iceberg!! And I totally agree.

Why are these so common in Florida? Age of construction, bad taste, something else?

I appreciate everyone's perspectives and recommendations. Much to consider - thanks!

I like the low shelving idea; provides some separation between entry and dining. It's nice to have an architecturally defined entry area. But it would be nice if it connected to the ceiling instead of hovering below it :-/

Well, it began as walls that didn't go up to the cathedral ceiling. In my parents' last house, built in the late 80s, they had a vaulted ceiling and the kitchen was separated from the rest of the so-called great room by what was, essentially, a screen. Gave the blender a wonderful extra resonance.

Later builders realized they didn't even need to spring for a whole wall and people would still buy it.

Honestly, this is so much part of the standard development house in FL that I wouldn't waste any time on it at all for sale. If you were planning to stay forever, for sure change it, but people have gotten so used to them they don't even really notice them when looking at houses.

Tell me, do you have weird out-of-scale built-ins in the family room that can't easily be used for any normal purpose? Those often go with. Friends have just that sort of entry and the family room has 24" deep, 8" high shelves that were an original feature.

I don't think it dates..or rather I don't think "dates" is the right word..I think it's very contemporary of sorts to see something that makes you scratch your head. I see it everywhere actually, not only in construction.

(of course should be connected to the ceiling. if already there. why it is not? who knows. From some yesterday's article on colors whatever: "..... and dramatic borscht color to reflect a culture of “everyday nomadism.”

You can try to understand what the hell the deep intention was. But I strongly suspect there was no real intention lol. Same in construction.

Huh. It's odd, but not terrible. If, as others say, it's not unusual, just leave it and let the next people deal with it. (If you were staying I'd be all over some of the above ideas.)

writersblock - no built in shelving or anyting else seriously odd. Maybe the fireplace but this thing is really the elephant in the room.

I told DH that you all would have lots of ideas and opinions and you have delivered. Thank you!!

I don't think features like this "date" a house either. Architectural features are what make the house what it is. It's more a matter of whether these features are in the past enough for us to appreciate them and then, maybe whether they are nice enough or interesting enough for us to appreciate them.

Just as an example, my grandparents took out 6-8 eight fireplaces in their house (and left the decorative mantles in some of the rooms). They didn't take out all those chimneys of course, the house probably would've collapsed.

But in 1941, that many fireplaces in an undistinguished Victorian house that now had central heat (of a sort) were just a PITA. Now, we might think differently, at least about just plugging them up.

Actually FLW used features very similar to the above in his houses, columns and lintels and screens to divide otherwise open spaces. But they were rendered better than this both in design and in material. The issue with these is that they are just rendered in drywall, and I have seen these that aren't particularly flat, plumb or level. So sometimes they are just sort of an architectural blob.

I don't know that I would go to the trouble of removing it. They seem to be common in Florida, and quite honestly if you look on the Building a Home forum, people are still designing these and putting them in new construction. They are just turned the other way, and they are built around the dining room.

Nice home! If you removed could you repeat a wall of window doors like the ones in your living room? Just on the side that adjoins dining area. Perhaps leave the structure and add the doors?

What bothers me about it the most is your view in your second picture: a big fat post and the backside of a love seat appear to be blocking your way into the living area. Maybe it's not that bad and it's just the angle of the picture?

I've shown houses with that feature before and it gets a pan from the buyers even if they like the house, they don't like that feature and will move on to the next property IME. Take it out. You will open up your buyer pool immensely. Those bump out's on the wall you mention are easy to remove too. Having a half wall to divide the foyer from the great room/dining room is also a good idea if you prefer the separation rather than leaving it completely open. Your choice. But the idea to get rid of the "architectural feature" is a good one.

This is purely theoretical, but it comes to a point where one has to think about how much undifferentiated space you want your house to have. Open circulation is great, dead end rooms can be problematic. But everything open to itself has it's own problems. I see houses that are so open that the only thing defining any areas at all are furniture, and it looks more like a furniture store than a house. It's difficult to place and "anchor" furniture if there are no walls.

Then there is the problem that if one person is watching TV, the entire first floor of the house is watching TV. Rather than promoting togetherness, I think completely open plans can compel people to hole up in their bedrooms.

A set of columns doesn't do any thing for noise control but it does, to some degree differentiate space. This house seems large enough that the dining table still won't be "in the entry" but I've seen houses where it seems like everyone is clustered around the front door. Florida also does not need any sort of air lock.

Where I live we have cold winters and the houses, which are small were all built with vestibules that are literally 4 feet square with a front door and an interior door. It's a tight squeeze sometimes. It can be "claustrophobic". But you aren't meant to spend any time there, it's meant to separate the interior from the weather and from the street (these houses are on the sidewalk and the actual street may be 3-4 feet from the front door). People take these out, and then they realize that 1) they get a blast of cold air or rain in the house whenever the front door is opened, 2) people are walking by a few feet away and can see all the way through your house and 3) if there was at least a partial wall there you could have the back of a chair or a piece of furniture less than a foot from the door, but if there's no wall there, nobody wants to sit with their back inches from the open front door.

Sometimes separate is absolutely necessary. Sometimes, even if it's mostly symbolic, it's still a good thing.

Yes, that's all very true, Palimpsest. But developer-built homes in FL for the past 25 years or more are all about the great room concept. Any other home in, say, a gated development, will have the same or similar features.

I don't like it, either, which is why I don't consider homes in HOA communities. But most people want gates, HOAs, etc, so they just shrug, if they even notice.

Denita, I'd love to know what alternatives you are able to offer your clients who are put off by this.

Me, I'm looking at houses built before WWII, but those won't do for most people.

littlebug - from the entry there is easy access to both the dining room and living room areas. The photo does distort that a bit. I was trying to feature "the thing" more than any other element.

I do feel it helps to define a foyer albeit not in a particularly attractive way. I think I would miss that definition as without it you will just walk into an open space defined only by furniture. (Like a furniture store as Pal suggests) Just need the right solution if there is one. The vaulted ceiling complicates this in many ways. Thanks for the good ideas here and I welcome other creative solutions!

Side note: my husband looked at the this thread and wondered why I didn't start this by saying I "was asking for a friend". We had a good laugh about "that thing" and "architectural blob". :)

ruby, the "blob" comment wasn't meant to be specifically about your blob--er, entry.

I had a design instructor and I know a couple of architects who use the term blob, and while it applies so a lot of different things, it means something pretty specific, in a way.

A blob is something that should have more of a shape than it does or something that lacks some definition that it should have (so to some extent it's subjective).

So, some things like millwork profiles that it looks like somebody made up or are not crisp or don't have nice proportions, my design instructor would call that a blob. So even way back in the Victorian era there were mouldings and such that fit this. He pointed out some blobs in the house I lived in that was built in 1838 (no blob details) but was renovated in the 1890s (and had some blob details). Another of my architect frends calls almost all super-open-plan great rooms "blobs" because they don't have defined boundaries. Walls and hallways and ceilings and stuff are all connected or sometimes not completely connected and they run off in all sorts of directions and different angles. Do you have a room where there is more than one spot where you really have trouble deciding where to start and end paint colors? That's a blob.

Your column and lintel thing is not particularly blob-like, because it looks pretty square and plumb, it has a distinct shape, it's graphic, most people with a little effort could draw it. Now imagine this with one corner clipped off at a vaguely 45-degree angle, and with door or "window" openings with clipped off or angled corners that don't exactly match, and niches set into it. All things I've seen. Those are blobs.

While it may not technically be an "architectural blob" we have embraced the term for our feature :). This house has been surprisingly livable and served us well - despite its flaws. Most of the rooms are big enough and defined enough to work. I do have a soft spot for this house for many reasons but am not at all offended by any comments. I know its weaknesses and its strengths. I'm just trying to improve it without over-improving for our area. These are homes that sell in the low to mid-$200,000's. It is in a very desirable "new urbanism" type of development in our community with homes ranging from condos to multi-million dollar showplaces. My particular neighborhood is one of the first in the development so older and decidedly more modest. Very walkable and bikeable with lots of beautiful old trees. That has made up for the home's shortcomings over the years.

But the floors MUST be addressed and so this is the time to make whatever changes (or not) that can be made. Thanks for all the input - it really is such a help.

I think a pony wall with shelves could look fabulous there. I agree with you it needs "something".....

Rubyclaire, you and your husband are such good sports. :)

I have a small house with LR, DR and kitchen mostly open to one another. I have no foyer; you open the front door and step into the LR. So for me, having its own floor space, your foyer/entry seems very well defined.

I have a 5-ft. long pony wall between my DR and LR that defines both spaces but doesn't interfere with the sense of openness, light or visuals. I sometimes wish I could fit a longer table in my DR (if the pony wall wasn't there) but I do appreciate how all the table and chair legs are somewhat hidden from the LR.

ETA: Patriceny and I were posting at the same time. A pony wall would define and let you open up.