Our latest lookbook features ten home interiors with cozy living rooms and conversation pits, proving the retro architectural feature is making a comeback.

Peaking in popularity in the mid-20th century, conversation pits are living rooms built into the floor of a larger room to create intimate spaces where people can gather.

Accessed by a small staircase, they are traditionally lined with built-in sofas. However, many architects who enjoy their revival choose to fill them with freestanding furniture and standout fireplaces instead.

While creating more intimate spaces for their occupants, sunken living rooms are useful tools for creating broken plan interiors and the illusion of higher ceilings. They can also prevent furniture from obstructing outward views, forging stronger bonds between homes and their surroundings.

This is the latest in our series of lookbooks providing curated visual inspiration from Dezeen’s image archive. For more inspiration, check out previous lookbooks featuring glass block walls, modernist open-plan living rooms, and homes with courtyards.

Pam and Paul’s House, USA, by Craig Steely Architecture

Plump purple throw pillows fill this 13-square-foot sunken pit, which is the focal point of the living room at Pam and Paul’s home in the foothills of California’s Santa Cruz Mountains.

Craig Steely Architecture surrounded the seating area with floor-to-ceiling glass doors, providing occupants with a comfortable space from which to enjoy uninterrupted views of the steep wooded site.

Learn more about Pam and Paul’s house ›

Vacation home by Thingvallavat, Iceland, by KRADS

This wood-lined conversation pit from Holiday Home by Thingvallavat was designed by KRADS to separate the living area from the adjacent dining area.

Fitted with sleek leather furniture and a minimalist coffee table, it keeps the focus on the view of Iceland’s Lake Thingvallavatn, which is framed by large panels of glazing.

Read more about Holiday Home by Thingvallavat ›

Towers Road House, Australia, by Wood Marsh

A curved concrete plinth surrounds this circular sunken living room, which Wood Marsh created at Towers Road House in the Melbourne suburb of Toorak.

Accessible by two small steps, the pit is equipped with a polychrome carpet and red sofas facing a large fireplace hanging on one side.

Learn more about Towers Road House ›

Knightsbridge Mews, UK, by Echlin

A gray L-shaped sofa and wooden cabinets bend around the edge of this seating area, which architecture studio Echlin has sunk into the basement of a London home.

The space was introduced as part of a split-plan layout, which loosely delineates the living room from the kitchen behind it without creating individual rooms.

Find out more about Knightsbridge Mews ›

Shore House, USA, by Leroy Street Studio

This sunken living room sits on a semi-open deck that is surrounded by the open-plan living room, kitchen and dining room of the Shore House in New York’s Suffolk County.

It was designed by Leroy Street Studio as a space for owners to host large parties and events and features a large masonry hearth and fireplace surrounded by black ceramic tiles.

Learn more about Shore House ›

House in the street, Spain, by Arquitectura-G

The lowered sofas of this conversation pit are covered with cushions matching the color of the carpet in House on the Street, a minimalist apartment in Barcelona by Arquitectura-G.

Sinking the living room helped break up the apartment’s open-plan interior and adds interest to the monochromatic room.

Learn more about House on the Street ›

House in Coombe Park, UK, by Eldridge London

This curved sunken living room is set in a wing of the house in Coombe Park, which studio Eldridge London created for a family in a leafy location in Kingston-upon-Thames.

Distinguished by a transition between oak parquet and soft gray carpet, it is framed by a large bespoke sofa that follows its curves and is complemented by a gray Bertoia Bird chair from Knoll and a pair of Flower Tables from Swedese.

Read more about House in Coombe Park ›

Ritson Road, UK, by Gresford Architects

Gresford Architects planned this Victorian London home extension around a sunken seating area lined with plush pink velvet cushions.

Placed next to a winter garden and an outdoor terrace, it is designed for a warm mid-century aesthetic. Velvet cushions match the colored concrete that was used to build the extension, which is on display inside.

Learn more about Ritson Road ›

True North House, Australia, by Tandem

A conversation pit divides the open-plan ground floor of the Truth North House, where there is also a kitchen, dining room and double-height atrium.

However, to create a sense of continuity between the spaces, they are all finished with the same gray terrazzo flooring and wooden wall panels. The pit is complemented by a curved gray sofa and a plywood cabinet.

Learn more about True North House ›

River House, Australia, by Simon Pole and Annabel Dundas

Architect Simon Pole and graphic designer Annabel Dundas designed this small conversation pit for the guesthouse of their Yarra Riverside home in Melbourne.

Accessed by four white steps, it is upholstered in wood and furnished with gray cushions which distinguish it from the dark gray tiled floor of the kitchenette next door.

Learn more about River House ›

This is the latest in our series of lookbooks providing curated visual inspiration from Dezeen’s image archive. For more inspiration, check out previous lookbooks featuring glass block walls, modernist open-plan living rooms, and homes with courtyards.