List of house types

A wooden house in Tartu, Estonia

Houses can be built in a large variety of configurations. A basic division is between free-standing or single-family detached homes and various types of attached or multi-family residential dwellings. Both may vary greatly in scale and the amount of accommodation provided.

By layout

Single-pile house layouts are one room deep, but may be more than one room wide
Single pen, single cell, or Hall house: a one-room house
Double pen or double cell: a two-room house
  • Saddlebag: a two-room house with a central chimney and one or two front doors
Hall and parlor house: a two-room house, with one room (the hall) larger than the other (the parlor)
Central-passage or central hallway\corridor: a three-room house, with a central hallway or passage running front-to-back between the two rooms on either side of the house
Double-pile house layouts are two rooms deep, and also may be more than one room wide
Shotgun house: a house that is one room wide and two rooms deep, without a corridor
Side-hall or side passage: a house with a hallway that runs from front to back along one side

Hut

A hut in Tharparkar

A hut is a dwelling of relatively simple construction, usually one room and one story in height. The design and materials of huts vary widely around the world.

Bungalow

American Craftsman bungalow

Bungalow is a common term applied to a low one-story house with a shallow-pitched roof (in some locations, dormered varieties are referred to as 1.5-story, such as the chalet bungalow in the United Kingdom).

Cottage

A cottage is a small house, usually one or two stories in height, although the term is sometimes applied to larger structures.

Ranch

Brick ranch-style house

A ranch-style house or rambler is one-story, low to the ground, with a low-pitched roof, usually rectangular, L- or U-shaped with deep overhanging eaves. Ranch styles include:

I-house

Southern I-House style home

An I-house is a two or three-story house that is one room deep with a double-pen, hall-parlor, central-hall or saddlebag layout.

Gablefront

A-frame gable-style house, Portugal

A gablefront house or gablefront cottage has a gable roof that faces its street or avenue, as in the novel The House of Seven Gables.

Split-level

Split-level house

Split-level house is a design of house that was commonly built during the 1950s and 1960s. It has two nearly equal sections that are located on two different levels, with a short stairway in the corridor connecting them.

Tower

Vao tower house in Estonia, built in 15th century

A tower house is a compact two or more story house, often fortified.

Longhouse

reconstructed Viking longhouse

A longhouse is historical house type typically for family groups.

Housebarn

Post frame Barndominium with standing seam metal roof. Large garage on the front side and living space on the back end.

A housebarn is a combined house and barn.

Other house types

By construction method or materials

Multi-storied attached adobe houses at Taos Pueblo

Single-family attached

Movable dwellings

Photograph of a mobile home
Mobile home
Photograph of a travel trailer or camper
Travel trailer or camper

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ Harris 2006, p. 892, Single-pile house: A house that is only one room deep"
  2. ↑ Cloues 2005, Single Pen: "A one-room house, usually gable-roofed with an end chimney"; Harris 2006, p. 490, Hall: "4. A small, relatively primitive dwelling having a one-room plan."
  3. ↑ Cloues 2005, Double Pen: "A two-room house with two front doors, usually gable-roofed with end chimneys"
  4. ↑ Cloues 2005, Saddlebag: "A two-room house with a central chimney and one or two front doors, usually gable-roofed"
  5. ↑ Cloues 2005, Hall-Parlor: "A two-room house with unequal-sized rooms and one front door, usually gable-roofed"
  6. ↑ Cloues 2005, Central Hallway: "A two-room house with a central hall and centered front door, usually gable-roofed with end chimneys"
  7. ↑ Cloues 2005, Dogtrot: "A two-room house with an open center passage"
  8. ↑ Harris 2006, p. 328, Double-pile house: A house that is two rooms deep"
  9. ↑ Cloues 2005, Shotgun: "A one-room wide house, two or more rooms deep, without a hallway; gable- or hip-roofed"
  10. ↑ Harris 2006, pp. 887–888, Side-hall plan, side passage plan: "A floor plan of a house having a corridor that runs from the front to the back of the house along one exterior wall; all rooms are located on the same side of the corridor."
  11. ↑ "hut". Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary. Merriam-Webster. OCLC 1032680871. Retrieved 17 September 2024.
  12. ↑ Cloues 2005, Ranch House: "A house with long, low proportions and extended rectangular plan, sometimes with L- or T-shaped extensions at one or both ends, rooms clustered with family living spaces at one end and bedrooms at the other end, often with integral carport or garage; low gabled or hipped roof"; Poore 2018; Salant 2006.
  13. 1 2 3 Poore 2018; Salant 2006.
  14. ↑ Cloues 2005, I-House: "A one-room-deep house with a distinctive tall, narrow profile; floor plans include central hallway, hall-parlor, double-pen, and saddlebag; often with rear shed or porch"
  15. 1 2 3 Nostrand 2018, pp. 102–104.
  16. 1 2 McAlester & McAlester 2013, pp. 613–614.
  17. ↑ "Tipi". Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary. Merriam-Webster. OCLC 1032680871. Retrieved 17 September 2024.

References