façade

I think Fernando's friendliness is only a façade to hide his irascible* disposition.

Let me façade my remarks with a few words about my background.

Houses are built from the façade up.

veneer

We can't allow this column to veneer too far out.

When you see brick on the outside of a newer building, you can be sure it's veneer, not a solid wall.

People enter the veneer of the courthouse via a broad flight of steps.

edifice

You can recognize our house by the tan siding on its front edifice.

Our apartment is in the lower edifice of the building.

City Hall was once the largest edifice in our town, but is now dwarfed by the buildings around it.

palatial

The food in the new restaurant would please the most demanding palatial.

I wish your friend would talk in a less palatial tone.

When Peter lost his job, the family had to sell its palatial home and move into a more modest dwelling.

baroque

My husband loves sturdy furniture with elaborate decoration, while I prefer the sleek, simple lines of the baroque.

The baroque of a house is typically used for storage.

Grandma left us a baroque cabinet so heavy, we could hardly get it out of her apartment.

gothic

In order to beautify their home, the Gibsons put a gothic over their front door.

Because she likes to get scared, Gwen loves gothic tales of evil hiding in dark, lonely places.

The surveyor used a gothic to measure the distance between the building and its nearest neighbor.

atrium

To get rid of the smell in the basement, we had to install an atrium and run it at all times.

The plumber immediately went down into the atrium underneath the building to check the pipes.

Almost every indoor mall now features an atrium extending through all floors.

mezzanine

The lamp you selected is too mezzanine for my taste—I like a more contemporary look.

Customers like the mezzanine in the restaurant because they can observe everyone coming through the door.

The jury selected the most mezzanine design for the school because the budget wouldn't allow for more.

garret

During the summer, garrets build nests under the overhanging roof of our house.

If the roof has no insulation, garrets can get very hot in summer and cold in winter.

In order to enter the church, one has to pass through double doors and a garret at the front.

cloister

Because Claudia wouldn't answer the phone, I went to her place and found her cloistered in her bedroom with the shades drawn.

The main floor of the library has several cloisters of cubicles, each with its own desktop computer.

Don't forget to cloister the front door when you leave!