In a strict sense, foyers have very little functional value. You don’t sleep, eat or relax in them. Their original formal function — a place to be greeted and announced by a servant — has devolved into a pass-through, a place to drop keys or a backpack on the way to the kitchen, where real life happens. You would think foyers would have become extinct long ago; yet we continue to lavish large amounts of space on these areas, making them higher and grander all the time. Why?
