The typical modern house has a "living room" for the family to congregate in and to receive guests. This is also called a "sitting room", but I think that name is a little old-fashioned or regional.
In a older, grander house, the living room would be where the family would gather, but not where they would receive guests. That would be either the parlour or the drawing room. If a house ran to both, then the parlour would be where you met a drop-in visitor for coffee or tea during the day, whereas the drawing room would be for larger gatherings exceeding the capacity of the parlour, or specifically for the purpose of withdrawing to after a dinner party (the ladies traditionally doing so first, then being joined by the gentlemen after their manly lingering at the dinner table).