Need a word for this...architectural...thing

alchemist

alchemist

Be pure. Be vigilant. Beware.
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Evening all. A quick question based on a house similar to the one pictured below.

Foto-4J7EXXHT.jpg


See that window with the blinds? My character goes through it and out onto the street (okay, it's a garden, but I couldn't get a picture of a garden). She goes over that basement entrance ... area. What do I say she's jumping over? What is the space those railings demarcate called?


*waits to kick self when gets obvious answer*
 
There's three windows with blinds in that picture! Patio? I don't know which bit you're talking about, to be honest!
 
It's probably flat beneath, but stairs will do in a pinch, ta.

Mouse, the window level with the red door, to the left of it.
 
I believe that area beyond the railings, just in front of the door to the basement, is -- or was -- actually called the area.


Edit -- I just looked it up. Sometimes it's called the area -- I suspect that the books where I've read that were Victorian or Edwardian -- but it's more commonly called the areaway -- which I suspect is the more modern term.
 
Wouldn't she fall to her death if she clambered out of that?
 
So, her's on thic ledge and she leaps over the railings? I'd be scared I'd impale myself. Could you call it the drop to the basement? Or does that make no sense?
 
Actually, she ploughs through the window (she's not entirely human). Drop to basement is certainly an option, thanks.

Edit: thanks, Teresa. That's a fascinating one. I can educate my readers there!
 
Most readers would be more likely to understand "drop to the basement" than either area or areaway. That's probably the best choice.

Unless the setting is 1800's early 1900's. Then you'd probably want to use the word the character would be thinking.
 
Assuming that the action is not pre-planned, she'll encounter the various features in real time, and from a very specific perspective. Such as:
In desperation, she hurled herself through the window, emerging from the building in a hail of glass and thin strips of wood. Some fell towards the steps down to the basement flat, but most followed her over the iron railings and onto the hard stones of the pavement.
Click to expand...
Or something vaguely like that.
 
I think Teresa's covered it, but I'd call it the steps to the basement flat (ignoring the square metre of level surface). If you mention her reaching the pavement and the railings, I think most people will have a good picture in their head.
 
I've just reached a similar house in my writing, and I called that bit the "basement pit". Which I think I'm going to keep, because I think it's less confusing.


"Hello, I'm Lord Carstairs. I've just moved into the area."

"You live with my recycling?"


Mouse said:
So, her's on thic ledge
Click to expand...

Do people your way really still say "thic"? Cool!
 
Having pondered it overnight, I think I'd call it the 'basement stairwell'. However if the the flat bit at the bottom if it's sizeable, I might be tempted with 'basement landing'. Which would be ironic given that your character misses it completely.
 
We call them window wells here, too, but only if it's just the window and no entry.

Depending on whether we are talking about something modern or something steampunkish, it might not be the basement flat. It could be the tradesmen's entrance, with the kitchen, pantry, servant's hall, etc. on the other side.

Certainly in the fashionable part of town where Lord Carstairs resides!
 
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