Solar (room)

[1] In some houses, the main ground-floor room was known as the Great Hall, in which all members of the household, including tenants, employees, and servants, would often or could sometimes eat.

But a need was felt for more privacy to be enjoyed by the heads of the household, encouraged by the senior women, who wanted a daytime space to talk, read and view parts of the grounds.

The solar was the key inner family room, for seclusion from the hustle, bustle, noise and smell (above all from cooking) of the great hall.

[2] In manor houses of Normandy and northern France,[6] the solar was sometimes a separate tower or pavilion, away from the great hall to provide more privacy to the lord and his family.

The possibly related term grianán (from Irish grian, "the sun"; often anglicised as "greenawn") was used in medieval Ireland for a sunny parlour or reception room.