Problem
In a small household shared by two, the most important problem which arises is the possibility that each may have too little opportunity for solitude or privacy.
Solution
Conceive a house for a couple as being made up of two kinds of places—a shared couple’s realm and individual private worlds. Imagine the shared realm as half-public and half-intimate; and the private worlds as entirely individual and private.
Related Patterns
… again, ideally, every couple is a part of a larger group household - The Family (75). If this can not be so, try to build the house for the couple in such a way as to tie it together with some other households, to form the beginnings of a group household, or, if this fails, at least to form the beginnings of a House Cluster (37).
Again, treat the house as a distinct piece of territory, in some fashion owned by its users - Your Own Home (79). Lay out the common part, according to the pattern Couple’s Realm (136), and give both persons an individual world of their own where they can be alone - A Room of One’s Own (141) …
Alexander, Christopher. A Pattern Language: Towns, Buildings, Construction. Oxford University Press, 1977, p. 385.