Jump to content

Townhouse: Difference between revisions

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Content deleted Content added
GuyFulton (talk | contribs)
No edit summary
Closing 2023 merge proposal; consensus not to merge; see Talk:Townhouse#Merge from Tenement
 
(47 intermediate revisions by 35 users not shown)
Line 1: Line 1:
{{short description|Individual urban house in a terrace or row}}
{{Short description|Individual urban house in a terrace or row}}
{{about||the British use of the term|Townhouse (Great Britain)| the Scottish use of the term "Town house"|Seat of local government}}
{{for multi|the British use of the term|Townhouse (Great Britain)| the Scottish use of the term "Town house"|Seat of local government}}
{{refimprove|date=July 2018}}
{{More citations needed|date=July 2018}}
[[File:Tribeca, New York (51521771723).jpg|thumb|300px|Townhouses in [[Tribeca]], [[Manhattan]]]]


A '''townhouse''', '''townhome''', '''town house''', or '''town home''', is a type of [[Terraced house|terraced housing]]. A modern townhouse is often one with a small footprint on multiple floors. In a different British usage, the term originally referred to any type of [[Townhouse (Great Britain)|city residence]] (normally in [[London]]) of someone whose main or largest residence was a [[English country house|country house]].
A '''townhouse''', '''townhome''', '''town house''', or '''town home''', is a type of [[Terraced house|terraced housing]]. A modern townhouse is often one with a small footprint on multiple floors. In a different British usage, the term originally referred to any type of [[Townhouse (Great Britain)|city residence]] (normally in [[London]]) of someone whose main or largest residence was a [[English country house|country house]].


==History==
==History==
Historically, a townhouse was the city residence of a noble or wealthy family, who would own one or more country houses in which they lived for much of the year. From the 18th century, landowners and their servants would move to a townhouse during the [[Season (society)|social season]] (when major [[Ball (dance)|balls]] took place).<ref>For a description of an 18th-century town house in England, for example, see Olsen, Kirsten. [https://books.google.com/books?id=o_hwrAoqxmQC&pg=PA85 ''Daily Life in 18th-Century England'']. Greenwood Publishing Group, 1999, pp. 84–85. Also see Stewart, Rachel. ''The Town House in Georgian London''. Yale University Press for the Paul Mellon Centre for Studies in British Art, 2009.</ref>
Historically, a townhouse was the city residence of a noble or wealthy family, who would own one or more country houses in which they lived for much of the year. From the 18th century, landowners and their servants would move to a townhouse during the [[Season (society)|social season]] (when major [[Ball (dance)|balls]] took place).<ref>For a description of an 18th-century town house in England, for example, see
* Olsen, Kirsten. [https://books.google.com/books?id=o_hwrAoqxmQC&pg=PA85 ''Daily Life in 18th-Century England'']. Greenwood Publishing Group, 1999, pp. 84–85.
* Stewart, Rachel. ''The Town House in Georgian London''. Yale University Press for the Paul Mellon Centre for Studies in British Art, 2009.</ref>


==Europe==
==Europe==
{{Further|Tenement}}

[[File:Cogels-Osylei-9-17.jpg|thumb|right|Townhouses in [[Zurenborg]], [[Antwerp]] (Belgium), an area that features a high concentration of townhouses in [[Art Nouveau]] and other [[fin-de-siècle]] styles.]]
[[File:Gdańsk kamienice przy Długim Targu.jpg|thumb|Townhouses in [[Gdańsk]], [[Poland]]]]
[[File:Vuorenjuuri1.JPG|thumb|Townhouses in [[Malminkartano]], [[Helsinki]], [[Finland]]]]

===United Kingdom===
In the United Kingdom, most townhouses are [[Terraced houses in the United Kingdom|terraced]]. Only a small minority of them, generally the largest, were detached, but even aristocrats whose country houses had grounds of hundreds or thousands of acres often lived in terraced houses in town. For example, the [[Duke of Norfolk]] owned [[Arundel Castle]] in the country, while his London house, [[Norfolk House]], was a terraced house in [[St James's Square]] over 100 feet (30 meters) wide.{{fact|date=July 2018}}
{{main|Townhouse (Great Britain)}}
In the United Kingdom, most townhouses are [[Terraced houses in the United Kingdom|terraced]]. Only a small minority of them, generally the largest, were detached, but even aristocrats whose country houses had grounds of hundreds or thousands of acres often lived in terraced houses in town. For example, the [[Duke of Norfolk]] owned [[Arundel Castle]] in the country, while his London house, [[Norfolk House]], was a terraced house in [[St James's Square]] over {{convert|100|ft|m}} wide.{{citation needed|date=July 2018}}


==North America==
==North America==
===U.S. and Canada===
In the United States and Canada, a townhouse has two connotations. The older predates the automobile and denotes a house on a small footprint in a city, but because of its multiple floors (sometimes six or more), it has a large living space, often with servants' quarters. The small footprint of the townhouse allows it to be within walking or mass-transit distance of business and industrial areas of the city, yet luxurious enough for wealthy residents of the city.<ref>For a history of the townhouse in the United States, see: Herman, Bernard L. ''Town House: Architecture and Material Life in the Early American City, 1780–1830''. UNC Press Books, 2005.</ref>


Townhouses are expensive where detached single-family houses are uncommon, such as in [[New York City]], [[Chicago]], [[Boston]], [[Philadelphia]], [[Montreal]], [[Washington, D.C.]], and [[San Francisco]].
[[File:RowHouses on John R.jpg|thumb|Townhouses in [[Detroit]], [[Michigan]]]]


''Rowhouses'' are similar and consist of several adjacent, uniform units originally found in older, pre-automobile urban areas such as [[Baltimore]], Philadelphia, [[Richmond, Virginia]], [[Charleston, South Carolina]], [[Savannah, Georgia]] and [[New Orleans]], but now found in lower-cost housing developments in suburbs as well. A rowhouse is where there is a continuous roof and foundation, and a single wall divides adjacent townhouses, but some have a double wall with inches-wide air space in between on a common foundation. A rowhouse will generally be smaller and less luxurious than a dwelling called a townhouse.
In the United States and Canada, a townhouse has two connotations. The older predates the automobile and denotes a house on a small footprint in a city, but because of its multiple floors (sometimes six or more), it has a large living space, often with servants' quarters. The small footprint of the townhouse allows it to be within walking or mass-transit distance of business and industrial areas of the city, yet luxurious enough for wealthy residents of the city.<ref>For a history of the townhouse in the United States, see Herman, Bernard L. ''Town House: Architecture and Material Life in the Early American City, 1780-1830''. UNC Press Books, 2005.</ref>


The name ''townhouse'' or ''townhome'' was later used to describe non-uniform units in suburban areas that are designed to mimic detached or [[semi-detached]] homes. Today, the term ''townhouse'' is used to describe units mimicking a detached home that are attached in a multi-unit complex. The distinction between living units called ''apartments'' and those called ''townhouses'' is that townhouses usually consist of multiple floors and have their own outside door as opposed to having only one level and/or having access via an interior corridor hallway or via an exterior balcony-style walkway (more common in the warmer climates). Another distinction is that in most areas of the US outside of the very largest cities, ''apartment'' refers to rental housing, and ''townhouse'' typically refers to an individually owned dwelling, with no other unit beneath or above although the term townhouse-style (rental) apartment is also heard for bi-level apartments.
[[File:Campbell Townhouses - Portland Oregon.jpg|thumb|Townhouses in [[Portland, Oregon|Portland]], [[Oregon]]]]
Townhouses are expensive where detached single-family houses are uncommon, such as in New York City, Chicago, Boston, Philadelphia, Toronto, Washington, DC, and San Francisco.

''Rowhouses'' are similar and consist of several adjacent, uniform units originally found in older, pre-automobile urban areas such as [[Baltimore]], Philadelphia, Charleston (South Carolina), [[Savannah, Georgia|Savannah]] and New Orleans, but now found in lower-cost housing developments in suburbs as well. A townhouse is where there is a continuous roof and foundation, and a single wall divides adjacent townhouses, but some have a double wall with inches-wide air space in between on a common foundation. A rowhouse will generally be smaller and less luxurious than a dwelling called a townhouse.

[[File:Chapline Street Row HD in Wheeling.jpg|thumb|Townhouses in [[Wheeling, West Virginia|Wheeling]], [[West Virginia]]]]

The name ''townhouse'' or ''townhome'' was later used to describe non-uniform units in suburban areas that are designed to mimic detached or semi-detached homes. Today, the term ''townhouse'' is used to describe units mimicking a detached home that are attached in a multi-unit complex. The distinction between living units called ''apartments'' and those called ''townhouses'' is that townhouses usually consist of multiple floors and have their own outside door as opposed to having only one level and/or having access via an interior corridor hallway or via an exterior balcony-style walkway (more common in the warmer climates). Another distinction is that in most areas of the US outside of the very largest cities, ''apartment'' refers to rental housing, and ''townhouse'' typically refers to an individually owned dwelling, with no other unit beneath or above although the term townhouse-style (rental) apartment is also heard for bi-level apartments.


Townhouses can also be "stacked". Such homes have multiple units vertically (typically two), normally each with its own private entrance from the street or at least from the outside. They can be side by side in a row of three or more, in which case they are sometimes referred to as ''rowhouses''. A townhouse in a group of two could be referred to as a townhouse, but in Canada and the US, it is typically called a semi-detached home and in some areas of western Canada, a half-duplex.
Townhouses can also be "stacked". Such homes have multiple units vertically (typically two), normally each with its own private entrance from the street or at least from the outside. They can be side by side in a row of three or more, in which case they are sometimes referred to as ''rowhouses''. A townhouse in a group of two could be referred to as a townhouse, but in Canada and the US, it is typically called a semi-detached home and in some areas of western Canada, a half-duplex.
Line 33: Line 33:
In Canada, single-family dwellings, be they any type, such as single-family detached homes, apartments, mobile homes, or townhouses, for example, are split into two categories of ownership:
In Canada, single-family dwellings, be they any type, such as single-family detached homes, apartments, mobile homes, or townhouses, for example, are split into two categories of ownership:


* [[Condominium]] ([[strata title]]), where one owns the interior of the unit and also a specified share of the undivided interest of the remainder of the building and land known as ''common elements''.
* [[Condominium (living space)|Condominium]] ([[strata title]]), where one owns the interior of the unit and also a specified share of the undivided interest of the remainder of the building and land known as ''common elements''.
* [[freehold (real property)|Freehold]], where one owns exclusively the land and the dwelling without any condominium aspects. These may share the foundation as well but have narrow air spaces between and still referred to as a townhouse.
* [[freehold (real property)|Freehold]], where one owns exclusively the land and the dwelling without any condominium aspects. These may share the foundation as well but have narrow air spaces between and still referred to as a townhouse.


Condominium townhouses, just like condominium apartments, are often referred to as ''condos'', thus referring to the type of ownership rather than to the type of dwelling. Since apartment style condos are the most common, when someone refers to a ''condo'', many erroneously assume that it must be an apartment-style dwelling and conversely that only apartment-style dwellings can be condos. All types of dwellings can be condos, and this is therefore true of townhouses. A [[brownstone]] townhouse is a particular variety found in New York.
Condominium townhouses, just like condominium apartments, are often referred to as ''condos'', thus referring to the type of ownership rather than to the type of dwelling. Since apartment-style condos are the most common, when someone refers to a ''condo'', many erroneously assume that it must be an apartment-style dwelling and that only apartment-style dwellings can be condos. All types of dwellings can be condos, and this is therefore true of townhouses. A [[brownstone]] townhouse is a particular variety found in New York.

<gallery widths="200px" heights="140px">
File:Morning_Light,_Beacon_Hill,_Boston.jpg|Townhouses in [[Beacon Hill, Boston]]
File:Chapline Street Row HD in Wheeling.jpg|Townhouses in [[Wheeling, West Virginia|Wheeling]], [[West Virginia]]
File:School_Road_Stacked_Townhouses_Front_yards.jpg|Townhouses constructed by a single developer in [[Souderton, Pennsylvania]]
File:Luxury waterfront townhomes in Maryland .jpeg|As of 2021, the luxury townhouses on [[Carr's Beach]] and Sparrow's Beach in [[Maryland]].
</gallery>


==Asia, Australia, South Africa, Zimbabwe==
==Asia, Australia, South Africa, Zimbabwe==
[[File:HK_TheBeverlyHills.JPG|thumb|[[The Beverly Hills]] in [[Tai Po District]], Hong Kong]]


In Asia, Australia, South Africa and Zimbabwe , the usage of the term follows the North American sense. Townhouses are generally found in complexes. Large complexes often have high security, resort facilities such as swimming pools, gyms, parks and playground equipment. Typically, a townhouse has a Strata Title; i.e., a type of title where the common property (landscaped area, public corridors, building structure, etc.) is owned by a corporation of individual owners and the houses on the property are owned by the individual owners.
In Asia, Australia, South Africa and Zimbabwe, the usage of the term follows the North American sense. Townhouses are generally found in complexes. Large complexes often have high security, resort facilities such as swimming pools, gyms, parks and playground equipment. Typically, a townhouse has a [[strata title]]; i.e., a type of title where the common property (landscaped area, public corridors, building structure, etc.) is owned by a corporation of individual owners and the houses on the property are owned by the individual owners.


In population-dense Asian cities dominated by high-rise residential apartment blocks, such as [[Hong Kong]], townhouses in private housing developments remain almost exclusively populated by the very wealthy due to the rarity and relatively large sizes of the units. Prominent examples in Hong Kong include Severn 8, in which a {{convert|5067|sqft|m2|adj=on}} townhouse sold for HK$285 million (US$37 million) in 2008, or HK$57,000 (US$7,400) per square foot, a record in Asia, and [[The Beverly Hills]], which consists of multiple rows of townhouses with some units as large as {{convert|11000|sqft|m2}}. Commonly in the suburbs of major cities, an old house on a large block of land is demolished and replaced by a short row of townhouses, built 'end on' to the street for added privacy.
In population-dense Asian cities dominated by high-rise residential apartment blocks, such as [[Hong Kong]], townhouses in private housing developments remain almost exclusively populated by the very wealthy due to the rarity and relatively large sizes of the units. Prominent examples in Hong Kong include Severn 8, in which a {{convert|5067|sqft|m2|adj=on}} townhouse sold for HK$285 million (US$37 million) in 2008, or HK$57,000 (US$7,400) per square foot, a record in Asia, and [[The Beverly Hills]], which consists of multiple rows of townhouses with some units as large as {{convert|11000|sqft|m2}}. Commonly in the suburbs of major cities, an old house on a large block of land is demolished and replaced by a short row of townhouses, built 'end on' to the street for added privacy.


==See also==
==See also==
{{portal|Housing}}
{{Portal|Housing}}
* [[Buildings and architecture of New Orleans#Creole townhouse|Creole townhouse]]
* [[Buildings and architecture of New Orleans#Creole townhouse|Creole townhouse]]
* [[Duplex (building)|Duplex]]
* [[Duplex (building)|Duplex]]
* [[List of house types]]
* [[List of house types]]
* [[Multi-family residential]]
* [[Shophouse]]
* [[Shophouse]]
* [[Sobrado (architecture)|Sobrado]] ([[Portugal]] and [[Brazil]])
* [[Streetcar suburb]]
* [[Terraced house]]
* [[Terraced house]]
* [[Townhouse (Great Britain)]]
* [[Townhouse (Great Britain)]]
* [[Sobrado (architecture)|Sobrado]] ([[Portugal]] and [[Brazil]])
* [[Streetcar suburb]]


==Notes==
== References ==
{{reflist}}
{{reflist}}


==Further reading==
==Further reading==
* Cunningham, Peter. [https://archive.org/stream/handbookoflondon00cunn/handbookoflondon00cunn_djvu.txt ''Handbook of London Past and Present, London, 1850''] (see section 20: "Palaces & Chief Houses of the Nobility & Gentry in the Present Day").
{{Commons category|Townhouses}}
* Daisy, Countess of Fingall. [https://archive.org/details/seventyyearsyoun0000fing ''Seventy Years Young''] {{Registration required}}. First published in 1937 (autobiography of an Irish peer's wife, covering the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries).
* Cunningham, Peter. [https://archive.org/stream/handbookoflondon00cunn/handbookoflondon00cunn_djvu.txt ''Handbook of London Past and Present, London, 1850''] (see section 20: "Palaces & Chief Houses of the Nobility & Gentry in the Present Day).

* Daisy, Countess of Fingall. ''Seventy Years Young''. First published 1937 (autobiography of an Irish peer's wife, covering the late nineteenth and early twentieth century).
== External links ==
* {{Commons category-inline|Townhouses}}

{{Room}}
{{Room}}

[[Category:Housing]]
[[Category:House styles]]
[[Category:House styles]]
[[Category:Housing]]
[[Category:Townhouses| ]]

Latest revision as of 17:46, 20 July 2024

Townhouses in Tribeca, Manhattan

A townhouse, townhome, town house, or town home, is a type of terraced housing. A modern townhouse is often one with a small footprint on multiple floors. In a different British usage, the term originally referred to any type of city residence (normally in London) of someone whose main or largest residence was a country house.

History

[edit]

Historically, a townhouse was the city residence of a noble or wealthy family, who would own one or more country houses in which they lived for much of the year. From the 18th century, landowners and their servants would move to a townhouse during the social season (when major balls took place).[1]

Europe

[edit]
Townhouses in Zurenborg, Antwerp (Belgium), an area that features a high concentration of townhouses in Art Nouveau and other fin-de-siècle styles.
Townhouses in Malminkartano, Helsinki, Finland

United Kingdom

[edit]

In the United Kingdom, most townhouses are terraced. Only a small minority of them, generally the largest, were detached, but even aristocrats whose country houses had grounds of hundreds or thousands of acres often lived in terraced houses in town. For example, the Duke of Norfolk owned Arundel Castle in the country, while his London house, Norfolk House, was a terraced house in St James's Square over 100 feet (30 m) wide.[citation needed]

North America

[edit]

U.S. and Canada

[edit]

In the United States and Canada, a townhouse has two connotations. The older predates the automobile and denotes a house on a small footprint in a city, but because of its multiple floors (sometimes six or more), it has a large living space, often with servants' quarters. The small footprint of the townhouse allows it to be within walking or mass-transit distance of business and industrial areas of the city, yet luxurious enough for wealthy residents of the city.[2]

Townhouses are expensive where detached single-family houses are uncommon, such as in New York City, Chicago, Boston, Philadelphia, Montreal, Washington, D.C., and San Francisco.

Rowhouses are similar and consist of several adjacent, uniform units originally found in older, pre-automobile urban areas such as Baltimore, Philadelphia, Richmond, Virginia, Charleston, South Carolina, Savannah, Georgia and New Orleans, but now found in lower-cost housing developments in suburbs as well. A rowhouse is where there is a continuous roof and foundation, and a single wall divides adjacent townhouses, but some have a double wall with inches-wide air space in between on a common foundation. A rowhouse will generally be smaller and less luxurious than a dwelling called a townhouse.

The name townhouse or townhome was later used to describe non-uniform units in suburban areas that are designed to mimic detached or semi-detached homes. Today, the term townhouse is used to describe units mimicking a detached home that are attached in a multi-unit complex. The distinction between living units called apartments and those called townhouses is that townhouses usually consist of multiple floors and have their own outside door as opposed to having only one level and/or having access via an interior corridor hallway or via an exterior balcony-style walkway (more common in the warmer climates). Another distinction is that in most areas of the US outside of the very largest cities, apartment refers to rental housing, and townhouse typically refers to an individually owned dwelling, with no other unit beneath or above although the term townhouse-style (rental) apartment is also heard for bi-level apartments.

Townhouses can also be "stacked". Such homes have multiple units vertically (typically two), normally each with its own private entrance from the street or at least from the outside. They can be side by side in a row of three or more, in which case they are sometimes referred to as rowhouses. A townhouse in a group of two could be referred to as a townhouse, but in Canada and the US, it is typically called a semi-detached home and in some areas of western Canada, a half-duplex.

In Canada, single-family dwellings, be they any type, such as single-family detached homes, apartments, mobile homes, or townhouses, for example, are split into two categories of ownership:

  • Condominium (strata title), where one owns the interior of the unit and also a specified share of the undivided interest of the remainder of the building and land known as common elements.
  • Freehold, where one owns exclusively the land and the dwelling without any condominium aspects. These may share the foundation as well but have narrow air spaces between and still referred to as a townhouse.

Condominium townhouses, just like condominium apartments, are often referred to as condos, thus referring to the type of ownership rather than to the type of dwelling. Since apartment-style condos are the most common, when someone refers to a condo, many erroneously assume that it must be an apartment-style dwelling and that only apartment-style dwellings can be condos. All types of dwellings can be condos, and this is therefore true of townhouses. A brownstone townhouse is a particular variety found in New York.

Asia, Australia, South Africa, Zimbabwe

[edit]
The Beverly Hills in Tai Po District, Hong Kong

In Asia, Australia, South Africa and Zimbabwe, the usage of the term follows the North American sense. Townhouses are generally found in complexes. Large complexes often have high security, resort facilities such as swimming pools, gyms, parks and playground equipment. Typically, a townhouse has a strata title; i.e., a type of title where the common property (landscaped area, public corridors, building structure, etc.) is owned by a corporation of individual owners and the houses on the property are owned by the individual owners.

In population-dense Asian cities dominated by high-rise residential apartment blocks, such as Hong Kong, townhouses in private housing developments remain almost exclusively populated by the very wealthy due to the rarity and relatively large sizes of the units. Prominent examples in Hong Kong include Severn 8, in which a 5,067-square-foot (470.7 m2) townhouse sold for HK$285 million (US$37 million) in 2008, or HK$57,000 (US$7,400) per square foot, a record in Asia, and The Beverly Hills, which consists of multiple rows of townhouses with some units as large as 11,000 square feet (1,000 m2). Commonly in the suburbs of major cities, an old house on a large block of land is demolished and replaced by a short row of townhouses, built 'end on' to the street for added privacy.

See also

[edit]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ For a description of an 18th-century town house in England, for example, see
    • Olsen, Kirsten. Daily Life in 18th-Century England. Greenwood Publishing Group, 1999, pp. 84–85.
    • Stewart, Rachel. The Town House in Georgian London. Yale University Press for the Paul Mellon Centre for Studies in British Art, 2009.
  2. ^ For a history of the townhouse in the United States, see: Herman, Bernard L. Town House: Architecture and Material Life in the Early American City, 1780–1830. UNC Press Books, 2005.

Further reading

[edit]
[edit]