Love it!

turn it into an Ikea ball pit and have a blast!!

Conversation pit
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


A conversation pit is an architectural feature that incorporates built-in seating into a depressed section of flooring within a larger room. This area often has a table in the center as well. The seats typically face each other in a centrally focused fashion, bringing the occupants closer together than free-standing tables and chairs normally would. In residential design this proximity facilitates comfortable human conversation, dinner parties, and table top games. Their disadvantages include accidental falls and uncomfortable interactions with those standing above in the main room

I was thinking of a tulip type table in the center, then one of those gel fueled(ventless, clean) portable firepits. You can move the fireplace out if you want to play cards there too.

Conversation pit indeed. Aside from the obvious fall hazard a conversation pit creates, it is not a very flexible use of your space. If you covered it you could do anything there: put some wonderful leather chairs and a nice table there for poker or game night. Or a sectional and a big screen, or it could be a space for storage and crafts, or an extra sleeping area for guests, or spot for Foosball table or a tread mill. With a solid 1 level floor you have options. With a carpeted hole in the ground your decorating options are usually limited to a hooka and pillows. Whatever you decide for the best use of your space, it will be a great story!

With today's lifestyles I don't think it is the best use of floor space and totally inflexible. You would be stuck with it forever. I would opt for covering it and forgetting it. Good luck

What did you end up doing with your surprise conversation pit? :)

Turn it into an indoor koi pond complete with a small waterfall in the corner. Seal it like it was a swimming pool, or use a rubber liner. Add rocks around the edges, water plants on the ledges, artificial lighting above. Have a jungle mural painted on the corner walls and mix in wall planters with real ivy to give the murals even more depth.

Funny how times change style and function. Imagine being in a room with another human being and being forced to look into their faces rather than at a giant electronic screen. We might even be tempted to speak to each other? What a novel idea....
Nah! Cover it up, put some leather chairs over them and hang a tv on the wall.

The only way I would keep it is if I were going to design the entire space in a mid century modern look,,,,,and,,,if there was a guarantee that you would not have seepage problems there.

Clean it up and put some pillows and it would be a great sitting area. On the bottom you could cover it with cement. Good luck!

Go to Flickr and type in conversation pit. There are some real nice ones there that can give you some great ideas in keeping it. It sure would make a conversation piece in your home. Good luck!

In Europe when anything interesting like this is found under the floor area and cant be used. It is covered by reinforced glass and so you still able to see the piece and use the floor space too.

Have you tried to google sucken living rooms ?

I was thinking of a fireplace with an actual venting through the ceiling. I tihink it's unique, only if you can make use of it. Dress it modern and you'll have a home run.

You gotta keep it. Look at the stir you already caused with conversation with everyone here. It's very cool. :)

KEEP IT - KEEP IT ... if the rest of the space/area is mid-century modern as well!!! For simplicity, I suggest finishing it out like a pool - i.e. concrete, terrazzo, tile on the bottom, etc. - Then load it up with a nice thick cushion and fun, colorful pillows! Since it is in a corner ... have fun designing the entire corner! I would suggest http://www.cushionsource.com/ for your customer shaped cushions. They do a fabulous job on custom shapes and have all different thicknesses!

I agree with studio Forma. We finished a family room in our house years ago. We had a large conversation pit..it was carpeted in gray Berber , with lots of red pillows. No furniture . It was so much fun especially for children. I would embrace this feature. Have fun!

Keep!!

Keep it keep it keep it.

I'd love to know if you resolved this dilemma! I would've totally kept it (and it would mean fencing it off from my toddler for a couple of years), but I really dig the funky 1960s vibe. Go watch some episodes of Swingtown and be inspired! ;)

Put a table in the center, good lighting and you could have a great place for playing games and working on puzzles. Best of luck!

Can you post an update please!

I would get rid of it. It appears to be in poor shape and may not be worth the $$ to fix it up. Plus have a realtor friend assess if it adds anything to the value of the home. If not then demo it or fill it in.

Are you sure there's not some kind of fall-out shelter below this?

Old post

This seems to be quite small, and not much of a feature - but if I could I'd blow out all the walls and make it a true feature with hanging fireplace in the middle - groovy baby!

I do not know what you ended up doing, but wow, what a great area for using your imagination. A great seating area with a small fireplace would be wonderful. ;)

Hope you post your completed project.

Fill it in with gravel a d concrete over it.

Just got redirected to this post after...what? Almost two years? Reflecting on the origins of the pit in your basement, depending on when the house was built, the pit may have started life as the as deposit for the old gravity flow coal fired furnace. The were originally dubbed "The Octopus" because they were round and from the side walls, round ducts shot out and connected to the first floor registers. No fan for forced air, no return air. Remember the scary furnace from "Home Alone"? That one. Wonder what the original poster came up with as a solution....

I'm pretty sure that is an entrance into the Temple of Doom, and you should not disturb it any more. Vennne, are you still there? Maybe it's too late.

Cover it up

Toga parties in a Roman Bath just add mosaic tiles and fill it with water .

Curiosity perhaps :)

Was this house built on what was once farm land?

For some reason it crossed my mind that a Silo could have been there ,but its just a guess of course:).

Hope it's not in Illinois, most of the state has major radon exposure. Around here (Rock Island, IL) after you get your basement waterproofed you do a radon test. If it's high (about 70% are) the (one method of ) mitigation is to have a fan vent from under the basement floor to outside. Even the sump pump pits should be somewhat air tight.

I say keep it, very unique!

I know it's an old post, but I'm curious what you did? I think it's kinda cool! Unique for sure!

It seems like the foot area is too small for a group of people.

If you like it, and if it goes with your (mid-century?) house, I'd keep it and incorporate one of those pretty little "fireplace" features that don't require venting. Or a little recirculating water feature that would make peaceful sounds. It would be a fun place to read or talk.

sure, it is unique. but so were shoes with buttons. You're going to sit in it ONCE and never again.

It's hard to tell how useful it would be without seeing the layout of the rest of room. It looks like it's kind of stuck in a corner. Has anything happened with this area since January 2013? ? ? ?

My family would never use it. It looks like a big hole in the middle of the floor. Is it even permitted ? You would need to make sure it was safe for all ages, old or young. Why would you use this as a fire pit inside the home? It would need to be well vented. How would you see each other over the fire. It looks like a small space. Do you want smoke inside the house? I would not just for health reasons. I think it is a waste of space and old looking. I'd level it out to match the floor around it. and use the space in a better way. Looks like a money pit to me and then after a cuple of years you would get tired of having it and not using it.

Prior to yesterday, I would have said those things are very outdated and to get rid of it.

However, yesterday I went to a home tour of an expensive new build home and they had a conversation pit in the middle of the living area! I was surprised to see it.

My thoughts yesterday was that it could be a bit of a safety hazard if someone doesn't see it and falls into the pit. A couple of times yesterday, I found myself standing at the very edge of the pit, not realizing that it was there. If I had taken a step backwards, I could have fallen into it.

I guess it's a personal preference though.

Old thread 2013

Love it. For me the questions would be (1) am I so space deprived that I needed that space for something else instead; and (2) would it be too expensive to finish. If the answer is no to those questions, I would definitely hire a good architect and contractor and finish it beautifully. (Unless talented, I would not dyi because a crummy job will look awful). What a special surprise.

Wow! And to think that I thought my old basement bomb shelter was different! This takes the cake!

What did you end up doing?

I know this is a really old thread and no one will actually read it - but I don’t think it was a conversation pit. To me it def looks like it was a hot tub in the basement that on second thought, previous homeowners realized it was a dumb idea - and filled it in.

I know this is a really old thread, but I found it hilarious.

Mark, sorry I called you no one! :-} Hehehe!