In the comment section following the fireplace post, one of my sibs, BB mentioned that she liked her fireplace because it was a open barrier between the foyer and the great room. It can be seen from either side and yet provides privacy to the living quarters so not just anyone can peek in and see them in their jammies at the unseemly time of early afternoon.
Thomas Jefferson, that guy from Virginia, knew a thing or two about building. I just assumed he designed Monticello and the colonnade at UVA. But, he also built a lesser known country home to which he would retire when the company got to be a bit too much in Charlottesville.
Poplar Forest outside of Lynchburg Virginia is a tiny delight. This was a house intended to maintain Mr. J's privacy. An uninvited visitor could be shown through the house all the way to the back public reception area, and never really see the private spaces because of the central hallway.The bedrooms and family living areas are to either side of this hallway.
Instead of the compression and release theory of going through a small foyer to enter an airy great room, it was more of a squeeze play, that gets the company in and out quickly. He could walk them through the house, and out the back door before they knew what was happening, and they felt like they were truly being invited into his home.
It always comes down to this. We want to live in beautiful homes that are comfortable. And, we want our privacy too. My sister achieves this with her fireplace, TJ had a walk through hallway, and we have a wall to the world on the street side.
This is the "street" side of the house. There will be clerestory windows on the great room, that tall kitchen window that you can see and one small window in Pat's sanctuary/bathroom/laundry room. 
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