Residential
dwellings can be built in a large variety of configurations.
A basic division is between the single-family home
and the flat/apartment, but there are also many
subdivisions, listed below.
A
shack is small, usually run-down building; they are
not necessarily used as a dwelling.
Brownstone Colonial
house: a traditional style house Cottage:
Usually refers to a small country dwelling, but
weavers' cottages are three-storied townhouses with
the top floor reserved for the working quarters. Detached
(Free Standing): Any house that is completely separated
from its neighbours. Farmhouse:
Builing serving as the main residence on a farm.
Linked: Rowhouse or semi-detached house that is
linked only at the foundation. Above ground, they
appear as detached houses. Linking the foundations
reduces cost.
Faux Chateau: (1980s - 90s) Inflated suburban house
with non-contextual French Provencal references.
Mansion: Very large/expensive house
McMansion (1980s - 90s) Inflated suburban house
with classicizing references.
Manufactured Home
Mews property: A Mews is an urban stable-block that
has been converted into residential properties.
The houses are converted into ground floor garages
with a small flat above which used to house the
ostler.
Patio Home
Rowhouse: (USA) also called "townhouse";
also called "terraced home": 3 or more
houses in a row sharing a "party" wall
with its adjacent neighbour. In New York, "Brownstones"
are rowhouses. Rowhouses are typically multiple
stories. If land is expensive enough to sacrifice
the privacy of detached homes, it also justifies
multiple stories.
Split-level house: A style popular in the 50's and
60's.
Semi-detached: a 2 unit rowhouse, often called a
"duplex" in the USA.
Terraced House: Since the late 18th century is a
style of housing where identical individual houses
are conjoined into rows - a line of houses which
abut directly on to each other built with shared
party walls between dwellings whose uniform fronts
and uniform height created an ensemble that was
more stylish than a "rowhouse"
o Back-to-back: Terraced houses which also adjoin
a second terrace to the rear. They were a common
form of housing for workers during the Industrial
Revolution in England.
Treehouse
Townhouse: also called rowhouse (US). In the UK,
a townhouse is a house which is often three stories
tall with a garage on the ground floor: it is usually
terraced.
o Stacked townhouse: Units are stacked on each other;
units may be multilevel; all units have direct access
from the outside.
Shack: A small, usually rundown, wooden building.
