Balconies have become increasingly popular in the UK, even if an uncovered balcony is often a somewhat optimistic addition to a home given the perpetual risk of a shower even at the height of summer.
As long as they are robust, well-designed and well-maintained, balconies can be an excellent addition, especially if they have a covering or do not protrude as much out of the building as one might typically associate with a balcony.
This sort of balcony is known as a balconette or a Juliet balcony, the latter name particularly popular to the point that the technical term for the barrier protecting the balcony in the UK is known as Juliet guarding.
The name comes from Romeo and Juliet, considered to be one of the greatest plays ever written by the greatest playwright in the history of the English language, William Shakespeare.
The balcony scene, arguably the play’s signature scene, is so popular and well-known that the Juliet balcony gets its name, but this balcony, and every single balcony used for this scene in every design of Villa Capuleti in “fair Verona” is not actually a Juliet balcony.
This tradition was a necessity from the stage play but exists in every major version of Romeo and Juliet, except for the iconoclastic 1996 film version which at least features a Juliet balcony, even if that is not where the majority of the scene takes place.
This is because the balcony of Juliet at the real Villa Capuleti protrudes outwards, even if other nearby windows actually have Juliet balconies, as well as the fact that most of the movement of the scene that has since become iconic would be difficult to follow with a real balconette.
Incidentally, whilst known as the “balcony scene”, William Shakespeare’s play never even mentions a balcony, but simply a window where Juliet appears.