My husband thought a urinal would really complete the look. I just think it looks silly.

Ewwww ... why would anyone want something that looks institutional in his house? Industrial's charms I get, but public school hallway, not so much.

While I probably wouldn't install one, I could see a drinking fountain being functional in a mudroom where children can run in and get a drink of water and then back outside to play.

It's a stunning house if you ignore the unflattering gray. The skylight is amazing. The staircase is amazing.

My thinking on the drinking fountain is the same as Pricklypear's--put it near the back door for easy access from the yard. Keeps people (kids) from trammeling into the kitchen every time they want a drink.

When I was little we had one outside. It was nice for us kids to get a drink without bothering mom. Inside the house, why?

If I had four or five children, all close in age, and this is in a mudroom, maybe it would work.

saypoint, and we are still kicking. The only reason we had a water fountain outside was because my dad was a plumber.

I ve seen others in utility areas of large houses from the middle of the last century.

Drinking fountains are nasty things and hard to clean. There are better ways to get water to children who are playing outside (do children actually do this today - wouldn't know it from my neighborhood!). A cooler and a different colored cup with a name on it for each child, works quite well.

That's a gorgeous house. That water fountain is in the mudroom on the ground floor. I'm guessing it's designed for use by staff, caterers, etc. I had a friend who grew up in a wealthy family in a small town in the South. They were a big Catholic family with six kids an a big ca. 1960 house. They had a water fountain in the back hall off the kitchen. They also had their own gas pump and the most awesome built-in pit, ground level, trampoline I've ever seen. I would have been so good at being wealthy.

chijim, 'gray run amok'! That tickled me!

This brings memories (nightmares) of what drinking fountains looked like when I was in school. Yuck.

But is it akin to school drinking fountains, where the water shoots directly up your nose with the force of a firehose?

I love the gray, and I especially like the black floors - something I've always wanted for myself. I don't like the white cabinets, however. I had them in my last house and never want them again. The cabinets in the laundry room are much nicer.

I would not want a water fountain either, but a friend that I used to visit in Mexico City had a urinal in the guest suite on his roof, which is where I would stay when I visited him. There were plenty of bathrooms in the main part of the house, but it was convenient not to have to go downstairs all the time. The urinal was in a separate room with a sink, but there was not a regular toilet or bidet.