Billiard room

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

The billiard room may be in the public center of the house or the private areas of the house.[1]

Billiard rooms require proper lighting and clearances for game playing.^[2] Although there are adjustable cue sticks on the market, 1.5 m (5 ft) of clearance around the pool table is ideal.^[2]

Interior designer Charlotte Moss believed that "a billiard room is synonymous with group dynamics. It's where you mix drinks and embark on a little friendly competition..."^[3]

History

Billiards probably developed from one of the late-14th century or early-15th century lawn games in which players hit balls with sticks.^[4] The earliest mention of pool as an indoor table game is in a 1470 inventory list of the accounts of King Louis XI of France.^[4]

Following the French Revolution and the Napoleonic Wars, billiard rooms were added to some famous 18th-century cafés in Paris and other cities.^[5]

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.

• 
  Billiard Room of Mark Twain House
• 
  Sketch of

  The Club, Bedford Park

  , 1880