Living Room and Concrete Floor Rocks dug up during construction were saved and incorporated into the poured-concrete floors and walls. Hydronic heating coils in the floor are augmented by a wood stove during the damp winters. Photo 13 of 20 in The Conversation Pit Makes a Big Comeback in These Fabulous Sunken Living Spaces from Diamond in the Rough (and Ready)

The Conversation Pit Makes a Big Comeback in These Fabulous Sunken Living Spaces

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Architect Ken Meffan lives in Rough and Ready, California, a tiny town in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada mountains where he spent a decade building his family’s home by hand. Rocks dug up during construction were saved and incorporated into the poured-concrete floors and walls. "If you make a building too perfect, it doesn’t give you that interesting feel," Meffan says.