Semi-basement

Belton House. Externally the windows of the servant's semi-basement are visible at ground level. Internally they are too close to the ceiling to have a view.

Semi-basement is the architectural term for a floor of a building that is half below ground, rather than entirely such as a true basement or cellar.

Traditionally semi-basements were designed in larger houses where staff was housed. A semi-basement usually contained kitchens and domestic offices. The advantage over a basement is that a semi-basement is lighter as it can have windows, albeit interior windows that are often too high to enjoy a view. Historically this was an advantage as the servants, who traditionally inhabited such a floor, would not have the opportunity to waste time by looking out of the window.

The feature also has the aesthetic value of raising the ground floor, containing the building's reception rooms higher from the ground in order that they could enjoy better views, and be more free from the damp problems which always arose before the days of modern technology.

Today, London estate agents when selling former servant's rooms as modern apartments often refer to the semi-basement as the "garden floor".

Rooms and spaces of a house

Shared residential rooms	Billiard room Bonus room Common room Den Dining room Ell Family room Garret Great room Hearth room Home cinema Home office Kitchen Kitchenette Living room Man cave Recreation room Shrine Study Sunroom

Spaces	Alcove Atrium Balcony Breezeway Conversation pit Deck Elevator Entryway / Genkan Foyer Hallway Loft Loggia Patio Porch screened sleeping Ramp Secret passage Stairs Terrace Veranda Vestibule

Utility and storage	Attic Basement Box room / Carport Cloakroom Closet Electrical room Equipment room Furnace room / Boiler room Garage Janitorial closet Larder Laundry room / Utility room Mechanical room / floor Pantry Root cellar Semi-basement Spear closet Storm cellar / Safe room Studio Wardrobe Wine cellar Wiring closet / Demarcation point Workshop

Private rooms	Bathroom Bedroom / Guest room Boudoir Cabinet Jack and Jill bathroom Nursery Suite Toilet Walk-in closet

Great house areas	Antechamber Ballroom Butler's pantry Buttery Conservatory Courtyard Drawing room Fainting room Great chamber Great hall Long gallery Lumber room Parlour Porte-cochère Saucery Sauna Scullery Servants' hall Servants' quarters Smoking room Solar Spicery State room Still room Swimming pool Undercroft

Other	Building Furniture House plan Multi-family residential Secondary suite Single-family detached home

Architectural elements	Arch Baluster Ceiling Colonnade Column Floor Gate Lanai Lighting Medallion Ornament Portico Roof Vault

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