A billiard room (also billiards room, or more specifically pool room, snooker room) is a

recreation room A recreation room (also known as a rec room, rumpus room, play room, playroom, games room, or ruckus room) is a room used for a variety of purposes, such as parties, games and other everyday or casual activities. The term ''recreation room'' is c ...

, such as in a house or recreation center, with a billiards, pool or snooker table. (The term "billiard room" or "pool room" may also be used for a business providing public billiards tables; see

billiard hall A billiard, pool or snooker hall (or parlour, room or club; sometimes compounded as poolhall, poolroom, etc.) is a place where people get together for playing cue sports such as pool, snooker or carom billiards. Such establishments commonly serve ...

.) The billiard room may be in the public center of the house or the private areas of the house. Billiard rooms require proper lighting and clearances for game playing. Although there are adjustable cue sticks on the market, 5 feet of clearance around the pool table is ideal. Interior designer

Charlotte Moss Charlotte Moss is an American interior designer and author. She studied English at Virginia Commonwealth University. In 2009, she received the Elle Décor Vision Award, and in 2010, she was the recipient of the Timeless Design Award from the R ...

believed that "a billiard room is synonymous with group dynamics. It's where you mix drinks and embark on a little friendly competition..."

History

Billiards probably developed from one of the late-14th century or early-15th century lawn games in which players hit balls with sticks. The earliest mention of pool as an indoor table game is in a 1470 inventory list of the accounts of King

Louis XI Louis XI (3 July 1423 – 30 August 1483), called "Louis the Prudent" (french: le Prudent), was King of France from 1461 to 1483. He succeeded his father, Charles VII. Louis entered into open rebellion against his father in a short-lived revol ...

of France. Following the

French Revolution The French Revolution ( ) was a period of radical political and societal change in France that began with the Estates General of 1789 and ended with the formation of the French Consulate in November 1799. Many of its ideas are considere ...

and the

Napoleonic Wars The Napoleonic Wars (1803–1815) were a series of major global conflicts pitting the French Empire and its allies, led by Napoleon I, against a fluctuating array of European states formed into various coalitions. It produced a period of Fren ...

, billiard rooms were added to some famous 18th-century cafés in Paris and other cities. Although billiards had long been enjoyed by both men and women, a trend towards male suites developed in 19th century Great Britain. These male suites paired billiard rooms with smoking rooms and sometimes libraries. One example of these male suites is Castle Carr near Halifax. By the turn of the century, billiard rooms were considered a standard feature in great British houses with ''

House Beautiful ''House Beautiful'' is an interior decorating magazine that focuses on decorating and the domestic arts. First published in 1896, it is currently published by the Hearst Corporation, who began publishing it in 1934. It is the oldest still-publish ...

'' claiming "Up-to-date owners of English estates have installed billiard rooms..." Many mid- and late-19th century billiard rooms were designed in an Oriental or

Moorish style Moorish Revival or Neo-Moorish is one of the exotic revival architectural styles that were adopted by architects of Europe and the Americas in the wake of Romanticist Orientalism. It reached the height of its popularity after the mid-19th centu ...

. Mark Twain's billiard room in Hartford, CT was decorated with quasi-Moorish stencils. The late 19th and early 20th century represent the billiard room's heyday. File:Billiard Room - Mark Twain House.tiff, Billiard Room of

Mark Twain House The Mark Twain House and Museum in Hartford, Connecticut, was the home of Samuel Langhorne Clemens (Mark Twain) and his family from 1874 to 1891. It was designed by Edward Tuckerman Potter and built in the American High Gothic style. Clemens b ...

File:Sketch of The Club, Bedford Park, 1880.jpg, Sketch of The Club, Bedford Park, 1880

References

External links

Foldable Pool Table
{{Cue sports nav Cue sports equipment Rooms