Aninglenook orchimney corner is a recess that adjoins afireplace. The word comes from "ingle", an oldScots word for a domestic fire (derived from theGaelicaingeal), and "nook".[1][2]
The inglenook originated as a partially enclosed hearth area, appended to a larger room. The hearth was used for cooking, and its enclosing alcove became a natural place for people seeking warmth to gather. With changes in building design, kitchens became separate rooms, while inglenooks were retained in the living space as intimate warming places, subsidiary spaces within larger rooms.[3]
Inglenooks were prominent features ofshingle style architecture and characteristic ofArts and Crafts architecture but began to disappear with the advent ofcentral heating.[3][4] Prominent American architects who employed the feature includedGreene and Greene,Henry Hobson Richardson, andFrank Lloyd Wright. British architectRichard Norman Shaw significantly influenced Richardson.[5]
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