### Problem
>The relationship of a house to a street is often confused: either the house opens entirely to the street and there is no privacy; or the house turns its back on the street, and communion with street life is lost.

### Solution
>Let the common rooms open onto a wide terrace of a porch which looks into the street. Raise the terrace slightly above street level and protect it with a low wall, which you can see over if you sit near it, but which prevents people on the street from looking into the common rooms.

### Related Patterns
... among the common areas and sitting spaces - [[Common Areas at the Heart (129)]], [[Sequence of Sitting Spaces (142)]] - there is a need for one, at least, which puts the people in the house in touch with the world of the street outside the house. This pattern helps to create the [[Half-Hidden Garden (111)]] and gives life to the street - [[Green Streets (51)]] or [[Pedestrian Street (100)]].

If possible, place the terrace in a position which is also congruent with natural contours - [[Terraced Slope (169)]]. The wall, if low enough, can be a [[Sitting Wall (243)]]; in other cases, where you want more privacy, you can build a full garden wall, with openings in it, almost like windows, which make the connection with the street - [[Garden Wall (173)]], [[Half-Open Wall (193)]]. In any case, surround the terrace with enough things to give it at least the partial feeling of a room - [[Outdoor Room (163)]] ...

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> [!cite]- Alexander, Christopher. _A Pattern Language: Towns, Buildings, Construction_. Oxford University Press, 1977, p. 664.
> #APL/confidence/high
>
> #APL/Building-Patterns/Private-Rooms