You may be referring to the Eichler homes built post war from the forties and all through the fifities. Known for ease of living in relatively small space, (many around 1000 sq feet) built inexpensively to accommodate war veterans returning home all through the fifties. They began to fade in the mid to late sixties,and as they did, the ceiling heights undoubtedly began to rise, taking the lower, flat and tarred roof with them. Over ten thousand of these were built in that time period.

Great answer Jan.

A bit less historic, speaking to contemporary builds- the 70s were a time that brought this weird, sloping ceikings- "ski chalet". Then the 80s brought in the 14' entry, and a bit later came the 2 story living/family room concept. Yikes- I had one of those homes, and it was a nightmare to clean, keep cool/warm. All those windows- a real "wow" factor, but impractical to me and a lot of wasted space.

That said, it's fairly common in my area (new builds) to see 10' ceilings. City center, so homes are a bit smaller, and this can really open a space. Combined with much better insulation techniques, air tight windows, strategically placed fans, thermal chimney effect- can really work. I have 10' downstairs, 9' up, and each offers something different. Down, very spacious, without being cavernous. Up, a bit more intimate of a feel, which is great since it's where the master/office/2nd living is- our personal space.

In the late 80's our house had 23 or 25 foot ceilings in all rooms except bedrooms/baths. Dramatic looking but thought it was too much, a little pretentious, it dwarfed furniture, had to have things custom made to compensate (normal sized things looked under scaled... kind of silly IMO). Thought our entry looked a little like a hotel lobby , tried to counteract that impression. Glad my current house has lower ceilings, just a preference.

To my mind........anything over ten feet is a toal waste of drywall, time , energy, and COMFORT. I don't like feeling dwarfed; like I'm sitting in a hole. And any paint job is a nightmare, not to mention your equally dwarfed art. Hate it.

Ten feet gives you light......space......everything good. Drop it to nine in kitchens, and eight in small powder rooms and it's fine!. Human beings have not changed that much. Scale and volume should be comfortable for humans. You hardly need "awe" in your own home.

Avi- one other thing. Basically, every foot you go up over standard 8' will cost some additional money- and time- in a build. Not sure of your motivations.direction, but something to keep in mind.

I had a house built in 1905 with 9.5 ceilings