Master Bedrooms and Master Suites

Abstract

Nineteenth- to mid-twentieth-century house design situated a “parents’ room” within close proximity to other bedrooms, keeping the marital couple near their children. That placement comported with a concept of marriage as a shared enterprise focused nearly exclusively on child raising. But since the mid-twentieth century, the “master bedroom” has grown both in size—now encompassing a suite, as the master bathroom is now standard—and in importance. Modern marriages require sanctuary from the stresses of family life and must have privacy to achieve happiness and fulfillment.