Single-family home
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
A single-family home (known as a detached house in the UK) is a free-standing residential building, generally found in less dense urban areas, the suburbs of cities, the exurban region, and rural areas. Most single-family homes are built on lots larger than the structure itself, adding an area surrounding the house, which is commonly called a yard in American English or a garden in British English. Garages can also be found on most lots. In older homes, they are typically detached, standing as a separate building, either near a driveway or facing an alley in urban areas. Newer homes in North America favor attached garages, often facing the street, as most recent developments do not include alleys.
Literally only members of a single family live in this type of house, yet in the wider sense it refers to a single party of people. The counterparts to single-family homes are apartment complexes, condominiums, duplexes, or terrace houses where several families live in the same structure.
There are advantages and disadvantages to single family homes. Advantages are that the entire space is private to the owner and family, the re-sale value is generally the highest on single family detached homes, in most cases (depending on federal,state/provincial and local laws) you can add on to the existing house if more room is needed and there is generally no property management fees such as the ones associated with condominiums and townhomes.
There are also many disadvantages to owning a single detached family home. All maintenance and repair costs" interior, exterior and everything in between are at the owners expense. There are often a lack of amenities such as pools and playgrounds (although some single-family homes do have these features within the lot or nearby, they often cost more). Landscaping and lawn upkeep costs are at the owners expense and in most cases single family homes cost a lot more than condominiums and townhomes.
Large, inner city neighborhoods are so densely populated that there is generally not room for houses devoted to just a single family. Yet the outer districts of larger cities are usually transitional areas with equal shares of smaller apartment buildings and single-family homes. Among the wealthy industrialized nations, single family homes are most common in the United States, Canada, Australia, Northern Europe and New Zealand.
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[edit] Inside: rooms
A single family house in Western culture usually has at least the following rooms:
- Living room: Most of the time the largest room of the house where the owners spend time relaxing or entertaining guests.
- Kitchen: Food preparation is undertaken here, some homes feature eat-in kitchens where the family has their meals in the same room the food is prepared in.
- Bedroom: Any type of house features at least one bedroom providing a space to sleep.
- Bathroom: The room where grooming is taken care of; most baths feature a shower and/or a bathtub.
Furthermore most average houses feature some or many of these rooms:
- Front room: The room that you first step into upon entering a house; for bigger homes this room is commonly called a hall or entryhall; for small houses on the other hand it may be titled hallway; in more simple places this is the room where outer garments are kept as are shoes.
- Dining room: When more space is available, the food is taken in a room separate from the kitchen, the dining room; sometimes the room may be referred to as formal dining room to highlight the fact that casual everyday meals are commonly eaten in the kitchen or the next space.
- Family room: most often the casual living room that is set apart from the living room by its use; this informal room is less representative and thus children's toys may be kept out and most often this is the spot for the multimedia entertainment equipment, it is designed to support the need for relaxation and ease of the owner compared to the next room.
- Formal living room: the formal room of the house used for representative purposes such as picture taking and entertaining guests.
- Storage room: Bulky goods such as suitcases are stored here, sometimes this is the spot for the washer and dryer in case the following room is not a part of the house.
- Laundry room: The big appliances are situated in this space as may be a storage of linens or cleaning supplies.
- Study: For self-employed workers and home-workers this may also be called home-office and features the office infrastructure one needs for work, such as desks, computers, telecommunication devices and peripherals.
The following rooms can be found in more spacious or luxurious homes:
- Library: A more imposing study, usually featuring a great selection of books, artwork and trophies.
- Wine cellar: In case the owner is interested in wine, a special room can be added to the house where wine is kept dark and at the right temperature.
- Studio: For artists and art-lovers this room is used as a creative space.
- Game rooms: For games like pool/billiards, table tennis, darts, sometimes with its own bar
[edit] Linguistic Use
- Canada and United States: single-family home
- United Kingdom: detached house
- New Zealand: state house
- Россия: частный дом
In the United Kingdom the term single-family home is sparsely used. What is referred to as single-family home in the U.S. and Canada is rather called detached house. While in the American countries housing is commonly divided into "single-" and "multiple-family homes", the countries of the United Kingdom focus merely on "houses" (including detached, semi-detached and terraced) versus "flats" (i.e. "apartments" or "condominiums" in American English).
[edit] Separating types of homes
[edit] Galleries
Common Single-family homes in the United States and Canada
 Small North American and Lithuanian single-family home |
 Smaller midsize North American single-family home |
 Midsize North American single-family home |
 Large North American two-story single-family home |
 Midsize North American two-story single-family home |
 Very large North American two-story single-family home as found in Milton, Ontario |
 A large suburban home, valued at roughly 1 million dollars in Salinas, California |
 Big North American two-story single-family home |
Homes around the world
 River house on the River Kwai in Thailand |
 Traditional plastered home in Germany |
 Wattle and daub mud house in Cameroon |
 Traditional thatched house in Cameroon |
 Portuguese house of uncut stones |
 Traditional Japanese home |
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
- Australian Housing Types (pdf). Your House teacher resource kit. Royal Australian Institute of Architects. Retrieved on 2006-01-15.
- Unique Australian kit homes
