# Architecture Question--"Lancaster Room"? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [November 5, 2017, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/architecture-question-lancaster-room/800779 "2017-11-05T17:06:44Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2017, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/architecture-question-lancaster-room/800779/1 "2017-11-05T17:06:44Z")
I saw an online ad (no link) that referred to a kind of room as a “Lancaster Room”. It may be an archaic term. It may have to do with an upper story room, with roof access. Does anybody know anything about this topic? ---
**Author:** ![bob\_2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bob_2/32/3341_2.png) [@bob\_2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bob_2)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2017, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/architecture-question-lancaster-room/800779/2 "2017-11-05T17:24:21Z")
I have never heard it as an architectural term. Lancaster is a city in the North West of England and the title “Lancaster Room” is often given to banqueting suites and the like. This is just a marketing thing and these places have no connection with the city. ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2017, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/architecture-question-lancaster-room/800779/3 "2017-11-05T20:42:16Z")
OK, possibly right, any other inputs? ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2017, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/architecture-question-lancaster-room/800779/4 "2017-11-05T22:48:37Z")
Googling both “Lancaster room” and “Lancaster room definition” don’t give any useful clues at all, which suggests to me that it’s either (a) an obscure local term, or (b) a typo on the part of the person who placed the ad. It does remind me that “Lancaster Room” is one of the named rooms in the boardgame “[Kill Doctor Lucky](http://cheapass.com/kill-doctor-lucky/),” which is a sort of a reversal of the classic game “Clue.” [Here’s a copy of what that game board looks like.](http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v651/BerkaZerka/Dr_LuckyM.jpg) I know that there’s a variant board for the game that’s based on the floorplan of a famous mansion, but I have no idea if the rooms are named for actual rooms in that location. ---
**Author:** ![aktep](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f0a364/32.png) [@aktep](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aktep)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2017, 10:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/architecture-question-lancaster-room/800779/5 "2017-11-05T22:59:26Z")
I think **bob++** has it. If you remembered what the ad was for, you’d likely see the place has a room called the Lancaster Room. ---
**Author:** ![bonzer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/45deac/32.png) [@bonzer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bonzer)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2017, 11:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/architecture-question-lancaster-room/800779/6 "2017-11-05T23:07:03Z")
Somerset House in London advertise [a set of “Lancaster Rooms” for hire](https://hirespace.com/Spaces/London/161937/Somerset-House/The-Lancaster-Rooms/Business). The possible historical reference is that the building was once partly used as the headquarters of the Duchy of Lancaster. That said, the original 1957 Pevsner entry on Somerset House makes no mention of any “Lancaster Rooms”, so this may be a recentish coinage. ---
**Author:** ![bonzer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/45deac/32.png) [@bonzer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bonzer)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2017, 11:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/architecture-question-lancaster-room/800779/7 "2017-11-05T23:22:48Z")
The other obvious thought is that it’s a reference to [Lancaster House](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lancaster_House), now used for government receptions in central London. ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2017, 12:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/architecture-question-lancaster-room/800779/8 "2017-11-06T00:06:51Z")
> [@kenobi\_65](#): > > Googling both “Lancaster room” and “Lancaster room definition” don’t give any useful clues at all, which suggests to me that it’s either (a) an obscure local term, or (b) a typo on the part of the person who placed the ad. > > It does remind me that “Lancaster Room” is one of the named rooms in the boardgame “[Kill Doctor Lucky](http://cheapass.com/kill-doctor-lucky/),” which is a sort of a reversal of the classic game “Clue.” [Here’s a copy of what that game board looks like.](http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v651/BerkaZerka/Dr_LuckyM.jpg) I know that there’s a variant board for the game that’s based on the floorplan of a famous mansion, but I have no idea if the rooms are named for actual rooms in that location. That’s the source, right there. ---
**Author:** ![TruCelt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trucelt/32/523_2.png) [@TruCelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TruCelt)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2017, 4:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/architecture-question-lancaster-room/800779/9 "2017-11-06T04:46:34Z")
> [@kenobi\_65](#): > > Googling both “Lancaster room” and “Lancaster room definition” don’t give any useful clues at all, which suggests to me that it’s either (a) an obscure local term, or (b) a typo on the part of the person who placed the ad. > > It does remind me that “Lancaster Room” is one of the named rooms in the boardgame “[Kill Doctor Lucky](http://cheapass.com/kill-doctor-lucky/),” which is a sort of a reversal of the classic game “Clue.” [Here’s a copy of what that game board looks like.](http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v651/BerkaZerka/Dr_LuckyM.jpg) I know that there’s a variant board for the game that’s based on the floorplan of a famous mansion, but I have no idea if the rooms are named for actual rooms in that location. I have never heard the term before. But an area between the Master Bedroom and the nursery, with no outside walls or windows, hardly seems a good candidate for a banqueting room. ---
**Author:** ![JacobSwan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a6a055/32.png) [@JacobSwan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JacobSwan)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2017, 9:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/architecture-question-lancaster-room/800779/10 "2017-11-06T09:28:37Z")
Bed linens are sometimes called Manchester as that’s where a lot of them were made. A kiwi friend of mine says that the department stores back home always have a Manchester department for bed and table linens. But it’s not a term I’ve heard in the UK. Could this be a posh version of that? The Lancaster room is where you keep you Manchester, i.e. a linen closet? ---
**Author:** ![doreen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/858c86/32.png) [@doreen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doreen)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2017, 12:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/architecture-question-lancaster-room/800779/11 "2017-11-06T12:09:27Z")
I googled it , and it seems to be just a name given to a particular room in a catering venue or a small hotel. Basically an alternative to calling it “Ballroom A” or “room 207” with no particular meaning that would differentiate the “Lancaster room” at one establishment from the “Venetian room” at another. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2017, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/architecture-question-lancaster-room/800779/12 "2017-11-06T17:03:11Z")
> [@TruCelt](#): > > I have never heard the term before. But an area between the Master Bedroom and the nursery, with no outside walls or windows, hardly seems a good candidate for a banqueting room. Ahh yes. It would be bad architecture for a livable house. But when setting a murder mystery, it’s convenient to have a room full of guests, one of whom is the baddie, located right near the rooms where the evil deed will occur in Chapter 2.