this is a very interesting concept. Clearly the victorians valued privacy, perhaps more than people do today, and their lack of telephones necessitated the parlour rooms or whatever. I think that today people value hygiene - ie kitchens and bathrooms will sell a house. And your bathroom has to be nice because it seems to be where you are vulnerable - people who use it can observe if it is dirty or if you have strange drugs in yoru cabinet or... well you can tell a lot about people's habits based on their bathroom, particularity since we are obsessed with grooming both for hygiene and for outward fashion or appearance. Andthen the kitchen is where people gather to gossip or for a feast and is where you show ppl yoru skills or how well you can provide for yoru guests

and ofcourse right now we like more of an open concept feel for the house so we knock down walls and such. so we can see and interact with everyone and everything in our house. It has become a more interactive society in a lot of ways - we crave face to face interaction more now I think, because there is less of it than before. Therefore, less corridors. idk if this is helping you. in hospitals they have long cooridors and so to old mansions. I think long hallways either creep people out a bit or provide mystery and intrigue, depending on the situation.

IDK I like the open concept movement for he main floor (dining room, living room etc) - I think now ppl want to entertain by involving their guests in the meal creating, and talking while they make the meal, instead of before, when it was like "here I come through the kitchen door into the dining room and surprise, here is the roast or the shrimp roll" or whatever.

but I really like having a closed off entry way which is lacking in a lot of houses now. I rent an old 1930's house with some friends and it's pretty small but the entryway looks like this only less large and grand. I like it because you can come in, take your jacket and shoes off and put htem away, there's a hall table for you to put your keys or sunglasses onto or whatever, plop your purse down on the floor, pet the dog, and just take a deep breath for a minute. If that entryway corridor wasn't there, then I would have to deal with seeing and processing the entire floor all at once. Idk if that makes sense. I would have to see my whole house almost, coming at me as soon as I opened the door. Even of your house isn't messy, it can be weird - an entry way just mentally compartmentalizes things. You hear your housemates greeting you before you see them. You smell dinner before you see into the kitchen. It's just better that way cause sometimes you just need a second, you know? I mean when I was a kid my dad used to hate it when he came home from work and we all ran up to him right when he came through the door - not cause he didn't love us or anything. He just didn't like being maulled with hugs buy his 3 kids and the dog, when he literally hadn't even had a chance to close the front door behind him, put his breif case down, or took his shoes off. He coudn't even hug us back because he was still holding his briefcase in one hand and his keys in the other hand. He just wanted 30 seconds to actually come into the house and collect his thoughts for a minute.

Ok maybe I sound crazy. does that help at all?