Terraced house

"Terrace house" redirects here. For the Japanese reality show franchise, seeTerrace House.

East side of thePlace des VosgesinParis,one of the earliest examples of terraced housing

Aterrace,terraced house(UK), ortownhouse(US)is a kind ofmedium-density housingthat first started in 16th century Europe with a row of joined housessharing side walls.In the United States and Canada these are sometimes known asrow housesorrow homes.

Terrace housing can be found worldwide, though it is quite common in Europe and Latin America, and many examples can be found in the United Kingdom, Belgium, United States, Canada, and Australia. ThePlace des VosgesinParis(1605–1612) is one of the early examples of the type.

Although in early larger forms it was and still is used for housing the wealthy, as cities and the demands for ever smaller close housing grew, it regularly became associated with theworking class.Terraced housing has increasingly become associated withgentrificationin certaininner-cityareas,drawing the attention ofcity planning.

Origins and nomenclature

Vicars' Close, Wells,built 1348–1430

Though earlierGothicexamples, such asVicars' Close, Wells,are known, the alignment of the house fronts with theproperty linereally began in the 16th century followingDutch and Belgianmodels and became called "row" houses in English. For example, in"Yarmouth Rows",Great Yarmouth,Norfolk,the building fronts all were right on the property line.

The termterracewas borrowed fromgarden terracesby British architects of the lateGeorgian periodto describe streets of houses whose uniform fronts and uniform height created a stylish ensemble rather than a mere "row" of similar homes. Townhouses (or townhomes) are generally two- to three-story structures that share a wall with a neighbouring unit. As opposed to apartment buildings, townhouses do not have neighbouring units above or below them. They are similar in concept to row houses or terraced houses, but share a common design and construction. The first and last of the houses is called anend terraceand is often a different layout from the houses in the middle, sometimes called mid-terrace.

Australia

Main article:Terraced houses in Australia

Rows of terraced houses inMiddle Park,Melbourne

Terraced housing inGlebe,Sydney

Cypress Terrace,East Melbourne, an example of well-preserved terraces

In Australia, the term "terrace house" refers almost exclusively to Victorian and Edwardian era terraces or replicas almost always found in the older,inner cityareas of the major cities. Terraced housing was introduced to Australia from Britain in the nineteenth century, basing their architecture on those in the UK, France and Italy.

Large numbers of terraced houses were built in the inner suburbs of large Australian cities, particularlySydneyandMelbourne,mainly between the 1850s and the 1890s (terraced housing is rare outside of these cities).Detachedhousing became the popular style of housing in Australia followingFederationin 1901. The most common building material used wasbrick,often covered with cement render and then painted.

Many terraces were built in the "filigree"style, a style distinguished through heavy use of cast iron ornament; it has a level paved area in front, also known as terrace, particularly on the balconies and sometimes depicting native Australian flora. In the 1950s, many urban renewal programmes were aimed at eradicating them entirely in favour of modern development.

In recent decades these inner-city areas and their terraced houses have beengentrified.The suburbs in which terrace houses are often found are often sought after in Australia due to their proximity to theCentral Business Districtsof the major cities. They are therefore sometimes quite expensive even though they may not be the preferred accommodation style. The lack of windows on the side, the small gardens, and the relative darkness of the rooms is at odds with the design favoured for modern Australian homes.

Europe

See also:Housing in Europe

Belgium

Rue aux Laines,a typical street inBrusselswith a homogeneous series of bourgeois row houses

The houses on the west side of theGrand PlaceinBrusselsrepresenting the different corporations

InBelgium,the row houses are the predominant type of housing around the country and closely associated with the Belgian culture and history. TheGrand Place,the central historic place of the capitalBrussels,is surrounded by private houses dating from the 17th century, reflecting the city as a mercantile power at that time in northern Europe.Later, in the 19th century,Belgiumplayed an important role in the earlyhistory of industrial revolutionlike theUnited Kingdom,where an important amount of working class housing was built to accommodate the coal miners in small brick row houses usually called "Coron".These types of constructions are very common in theWalloonregion, but also in theNord-Pas-de-Calaisregion ofFrance.Within the same period (from 1850 to early 1900), major cities likeBrusselsorAntwerpfaced important urban development with the construction of new neighborhoods as extensions of the cities often entirely around individually owned parcels where single family row houses were built and occupied by both the middle class and the bourgeois class.Some houses are internationally renowned for their architecture like theArt NouveaustyleHotel Tasselor theHôtel van Eetveldeboth designed byVictor Horta.

Finland

Ribbingshof (1916), Helsinki, the first "row houses" in Finland

Row houses inKartanonkoski,Vantaa,Finland (2011)

In Finland, an agrarian country whereurbanismwas a generally late phenomenon, therivitalo(literally: row house) has not been seen as a particularly urban house type. What is regarded as the first terraced house to be built, Ribbingshof (1916), in the newHelsinkisuburb ofKulosaariwas designed by renowned architectArmas Lindgren,and was inspired by ideas from the EnglishGarden City movementandHampstead Garden Suburb,and was seen as a relatively low density residential area. A similarly leafy suburban street of terraced houses was that of Hollantilaisentie (1920) in the suburb ofMunkkiniemi,Helsinki, designed by architectEliel Saarinen.They were initially envisioned as workers' housing, as part of a grand new urban scheme for the entirety of north-west Helsinki, but from the outset became a fashionable middle-class residential area. Later terraced housing in Finland is similarly associated with suburban middle-class living, such as theTapiolagarden city,Espoo,from the 1950s.

France

Terraced housing has long been a popular form in Paris, France. ThePlace des Vosges(1605–1612) was one of the earliest examples of the arrangement. In Parisian squares, central blocks were given discreet prominence, to relieve the façade. Terraced building including housing was also used primarily duringHaussmann's renovation of Parisbetween 1852 and 1870 creating whole streetscapes consisting of terraced rows.

United Kingdom and Ireland

Main article:Terraced houses in the United Kingdom

Grosvenor Square,one of the earliest terraces in Britain

The first streets of houses with uniform fronts were built by theHuguenotentrepreneurNicholas Barbonin the rebuilding after theGreat Fire of London.Fashionable terraces appeared in London'sGrosvenor Squarefrom 1727 onwards and inBath'sQueen Squarefrom 1729 onwards.The Scottish architectRobert Adamis credited with the development of the house itself.Early terraces were also built by the twoJohn Woodsin Bath and under the direction ofJohn NashinRegent's Park,London. The term was picked up by speculative builders likeThomas Cubittand soon became commonplace.

Upper class Georgian terraces along Dublin'sGeorgian mile

It is far from being the case that terraced houses were only built for people of limited means. This is especially true in London, where some of the wealthiest people in the country owned them in locations such asBelgrave SquareandCarlton House Terrace.Thesetownhouses, in the British sense,were the London residences of noble and gentry families who spent most of the year in theircountry houses.These terraced houses, often surrounding agarden square,are hallmarks ofGeorgian architecture.The same was true of many British and Irish cities. InDublin,Georgian squares such asMerrion SquareandFitzwilliam Squarehoused the city's upper classes. A type of terraced house known latterly as the "one-floor-over-basement" was a style of terraced house particular to the Irish capital. They were built in the Victorian era for the city's lower middle class and emulated upper class townhouses.

Single floor over basement terraced houses were unique to Dublin in the Victorian era.

By the earlyVictorian period,aterracehad come to designate any style of housing where individual houses repeating one design are joined into rows. The style was used for workers' housing inindustrial districtsduring the rapid urbanisation following theindustrial revolution,particularly in the houses built for workers of the expandingtextile industry.The terrace style spread widely across the country, and was the usual form of high-density residential housing up to World War II. The 19th century need for expressive individuality inspired variation of façade details and floor-plans reversed with those of each neighbouring pair, to offer variety within the standardised format.

Terraced houses inMacclesfield

A major distinction is betweenthrough terraces,whose houses have both a front and a back door, andback-to-backs,which are bricked in on three sides. The1875 Public Health Actimposed a duty on local authorities to regulate housing by the use ofbyelaws,and subsequently allbyelaw terraced housingwas required to have its ownprivy,with rear access to allow thenight soilto be collected as per theRochdale system.As recently as 2011, byelaw terraced houses made up over 15% of the United Kingdom's housing stock.

Since the Second World War, housing redevelopment has led to many outdated or dilapidated terraces being cleared to make room fortower blocks,which occupy a much smaller area of land. Because of this land use in theinner cityareas could in theory have been used to create greater accessibility, employment or recreational or leisure centres. However, sub-optimal or flawed implementation has meant that in many areas (like Manchester or the London estates) the tower blocks offered no real improvement for rehoused residents over their prior terraced houses.

The CircusinBathis one of many examples of terraced housing in that architecturally distinctive city

In 2005 theEnglish HeritagereportLow Demand Housing and the Historic Environmentfound that repairing a standard Victorian terraced house over 30 years is around 60% cheaper than building and maintaining a newly built house. In a 2003 survey forHeritage Countsa team of experts contrasted a Victorian terrace with a house built after 1980, and found that:

The research demonstrated that, contrary to earlier thinking, older housing actually costs less to maintain and occupy over the long-term life of the dwelling than more modern housing. Largely due to the quality and life-span of the materials used, the Victorian terraced house proved almost £1,000 per 100 m²cheaper to maintain and inhabit on average each year.

North America

Canada

Halifax

Halifax's use of rowhouses, townhouses and terraced housing has been consistent throughout its history, particularly on the Peninsula where the city first began settlement. In the older sections of the city are sections of terraced housing used historically for military families, as part of established families' real estate holdings in addition to a country house, and as dwellings for the working classes of the city and as public housing. The most well-known of the terraced housing areas isThe Hydrostone,which was originally built as replacement housing stock for those made homeless after theHalifax Explosion;individual owners have, however, altered the exteriors of many of the rowhouses over time to accommodate changing family needs. More recently, there have been rowhouse developments appearing in diverse areas throughout the city.

Montreal

Row houses onRue Sherbrookein downtown Montreal

Terraced halfbay-and-gablerow houses, a Victorian residential style unique to Toronto, inCabbagetown.

Montrealhas the largest stock of terraced houses in Canadaand they are typical in all areas of the city. As is common in other North American cities, in Montreal row houses are often referred to as townhouses.

The streetscape of the city's 19th century neighbourhoods, such asthe Plateau,Centre-Sud,andHochelaga,are dominated by row houses, duplexes andtriplexes.Row houses continued to be built throughout the 20th century. In many neighbourhoods, such asVilleray,Parc Extension,andVille-Émard,they became the dominant form of housing during thepost-warperiod.

In the 21st century, Montreal has continued to build row houses at a high rate, with 62% of housing starts in themetropolitan areabeing apartment or row units.Apartmentcomplexes,high-rises,andsemi-detached homesare less popular in Montreal when compared to large Canadian cities likeTorontoorVancouverbut similar to some US cities, in particularPhiladelphia.Montreal's characteristic row houses and their iconic alleyways,balconies,and outdoorstaircaseshave become cultural symbols of the city, featured in David Fennario'sBalconvilleand Mordecai Richler'sThe Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz.

Toronto

Terraced homes are abundant inOld Toronto.Many of them are constructed in the localbay-and-gablestyle, popular in the 1870s. Examples of Victorian bay-and-gable style can be found inCabbagetown, Toronto,Parkdale,The Annex,Kensington Market,areas east ofChinatown, Torontoand Spadina Avenue including Baldwin Village.

The last surviving row ofGeorgian-style terraced houses in Toronto, known asWalnut Hall,was demolished in 2007 as a result of structural decay.

United States

Row houses in Philadelphia's Art Museum area

According to the US Census Bureau,the highest concentration of terraced houses in the United States is in theMid-Atlanticregion, particularly thePhiladelphia,Baltimore,andWashingtonmetropolitan areas. The first terraced houses in the nation wereCarstairs RowinPhiladelphia,designed by builder and architect Thomas Carstairsc. 1799through 1820, for developer William Sansom, as part of the first speculativehousing developmentsin the United States.Carstairs Row was built on the southern part of the site occupied by "Morris's Folly" –Robert Morris's unfinished mansion designed byL'Enfant.Prior to this time houses had been built not in rows, but individually. It can be contrasted withElfreth's Alley,the oldest continuously occupied road in the U.S., where all the houses are of varying heights and widths, with different street lines, doorways and brickwork.

Terraced housing in the United States is generally referred to astownhouses.In some cities such asNew York,Philadelphia,Baltimore,San Francisco,andWashington, D.C.,where they have been part of the landscape for over a century, they are often called row houses or row homes. Despite the narrow lots, many row houses are relatively large, some being over 2,000 square feet. They typically have two stories, but may have three or more (with the latter often being converted into apartments for separate tenants). The term "townhouse" in theNortheastand Mid-Atlantic usually refers to modern terraced houses constructed in the late 20th century and beyond, especially those in suburban settings, which often have home owners associations and include garages. Multi-story attached homes that are grouped in twos or threes are typically called duplexes and triplexes respectively.

Baltimore

Row houses inBaltimore'sAbellneighborhood

Most of Baltimore's housing consists of row houses. A few of Baltimore's row houses date back to colonial times. The style and materials used in their constructions vary throughout the city. A sizable quantity of Baltimore's row houses are clad withformstone,a distinct feature of Baltimore's row houses, typically found in working class areas of the city. Marble front steps also make Baltimore's row houses distinct from other cities' row houses. Much like Philadelphia, some areas of the city that contain row houses are neglected.

Boston

The row houses ofBostonare found primarily in theBack Bay,Beacon Hill,and theSouth End.Back Bay is famous for its rows ofVictorianbricktownhousehomes – considered one of the best-preserved examples of 19th-century urban design in the United States. Beacon Hill is a neighborhood in Boston consisting ofFederal-stylerowhouses.The South End is built mostly of mid-nineteenth century bowfronts – aesthetically uniform rows of five-story, predominantly red-brick structures, of mixed residential and commercial uses.

Chicago

InChicago,row houses can be found in the downtown and surrounding areas developed in the late 1800s through 1930s. Many are two and three-flat buildings (consisting of one or sometimes two apartments on a three-floored building). AgreystoneinChicagois similar to thebrownstonefound inNew YorkandBoston,except the façade is clad in Indiana limestone. Most row houses are separated by a gangway that leads under the common wall between the houses leading to the rear of the property (where sometimes a rear house or coach house exists) and alleyway. The vast majority of two and three flats do not share a common wall and are stand alone structures. However, many row houses similar to those found inPhiladelphia,Baltimore,andWashington, D.C.do exist, largely on the near south and west sides, though not as common.

Savannah

TheChatham SquareRow in Savannah

Gordon Row,inSavannah,was built in the 1850s.It (and its individual carriage houses to the rear) is a contributing property of theSavannah Historic District,itself on theNational Register of Historic Places,and fills an entire city block. After falling into disrepair, the buildings were renovated in the mid-20th century by theHistoric Savannah Foundation.Other similar-style row houses exist in Savannah'sScudder's Row,William Remshart Row House,the Quantock Rows onTaylor StreetandJones Street,McDonough Row and Marshall Row.

New Orleans

New Orleans has a distinctive style of terrace house in the French Quarter known as theCreole townhousethat is part of what makes the city famous. The façade of the building sits on the property line, with an asymmetrical arrangement of arched openings. Creole Townhouses have a steeply pitched roof, side-gabled, with several roof dormers. The exterior is made of brick or stucco.

New York

Townhouses in theBrooklyn Heights Historic District

The row houses ofNew York Cityare built with a variety of material, includingbrownstone,limestone,andbrick,and some are wood-frame homes. Row houses are especially prominent in neighborhoods likeMiddle Village,WoodhavenandJackson HeightsinQueens;Bay Ridge,Bensonhurst,Brooklyn Heights,Bushwick,Canarsie,Marine Park,Park Slope,andSunset ParkinBrooklyn;andWilliamsbridge,Wakefield,andSoundviewinthe Bronx.

Philadelphia

Historic homes onElfreth's Alley,Philadelphia

In historicPhiladelphia,the rowhouse (almost always spelled as one word) has been the most common domestic building type in the city and some of itssuburbssince colonial times. Some of the oldest rowhouses in the city are narrow three-story"Trinity" housesthat accommodated a large population of indentured servants and immigrant workers, in addition to enclaves of free African-Americans in the 19th century.Society Hillis known to have the largest concentration of original 18th- and early 19th-century residential architecture of any place in the United States. The style and type of material used in constructing Philadelphia's rowhouses vary throughout the city. Even in neighborhoods wheretwinhouses are found, their façades and internal layouts usually resemble those of rowhouses.

Most are primarily red brick in construction, often with white stone trim. Some are faced with stone, beingbrownstoneon some blocks inCenter City,South Philadelphia,andNorth Philadelphiaand beingWissahickon schistinMayfairinNortheast PhiladelphiaandMt. AiryinNorthwest Philadelphia.West Philadelphiahas many colorful rowhouses in theItalianateandQueen Annearchitectural styles. As rowhouses are very common, the Philadelphia City Planning Commission (PCPC) publishes a specific guide for rowhouse home owners in an effort to detail some of the ways to maintain their properties.

With space within the city's borders at a premium, there has been a push to add a third floor to an existing rowhouse's in recent times, often this third level would include a rooftop deck. While zoning codes do exist which can possibly prevent third stories from being added to homes,Philly Magclaims "The city’s 2012 zoning code overhaul, which increased the height limit for rowhouses from 35 to 38 feet, has made this option increasingly prevalent."

San Francisco

San Francisco is also famous for its terraced houses, especially in the older neighborhoods ofNorth Beach,the Castro,theHaight-Ashbury,Russian Hill,theMission District,Duboce Triangleand theWestern Addition.The "Painted Ladies"on Steiner Street, in the Western Addition's Alamo Square district, although not strictly" terraced ", are a symbol of the city. Other ornate, intricately-detailedVictorian-stylehomes labelled as "painted ladies" around the city are terraced, and others again are semi-detached.

Washington, D.C.

Historic rowhouses inFoggy Bottom,Washington D.C.

Several neighborhoods inWashington, D.C.feature rowhouses, often composing the majority or a large plurality of the local housing stock. As in other American cities, rowhouses in D.C. span a wide range of architectural styles and building materials. Neighborhoods known for high concentrations of rowhouses includeCapitol Hill,Dupont Circle,Logan Circle,Shaw,LeDroit Park,Columbia Heights,Petworth,andBloomingdale.Many neighborhoods with rowhouses are located in the city'sNorthwestquadrant, in the densely populated area east ofRock Creek Park,except for Capitol Hill and its sub-neighborhoods, which occupy the areas of theNortheastandSoutheastquadrants directly east of theUnited States Capitol Building.Because many D.C. rowhouses are historic structures, dating back as far as the early 1800s, they are especially common within the city'soriginal boundaries,as laid out in the 1791L'Enfant Plan.Outside of Washington DC many townhomes have been built in the last 50 years to encourage density especially aroundMetrostations and other areas of interest.

Other cities

Townhomes in suburbanFox River Grove,Illinois

In other cities throughout the United States, such asAlbany, New York;Cincinnati;Cleveland;Covington, Kentucky;Detroit;Hoboken, New Jersey;Jersey City;Lancaster, Pennsylvania;Norfolk;Pittsburgh;Reading, Pennsylvania;Richmond;Troy;andWilmington, Delaware,row houses and terraced housing are also common, with row housing more focused on the center of the city, and later changing over to densedetachedhousing in outer neighborhoods. Scattered row homes and apartment rows can often be found in other eastern and Midwestern U.S. cities, specificallyMinneapolisandSt. Paul.TheF. Scott Fitzgerald Housein St. Paul is likely the most notable example of a row home in theTwin Cities.Columbus, Ohiohas scattered row homes, along with smallerMidwestcities likeDubuque,Duluth,andToledo.There are also scattered row homes and apartment rows in the oldest neighborhoods ofDenver, Colorado.

South America

Uruguay and Argentina

'Standard Houses' inMontevideo,Uruguay

MontevideoandBuenos Airesduring the last decades of the 19th century developed a type of terraced house called theStandard Houseor informally 'Chorizo' House.

Southeast Asia

ShophousesinGeorge Town, Penang,Malaysia

Pre-World War II terraced houses refurbished into restaurants and bars along Tengkat Tong Shin inBukit Bintang,Kuala Lumpur.

Introduced around the beginning of the twentieth century, terraced houses (also known asshophousesor linear linkhouses) have been adopted in bothMalaysiaandSingaporesince the countries'early British colonial rule.

Based on British terraced home designs, the Southeast Asian variations are similar to their British counterparts (in which the living quarters are located on the front and top floor and the kitchen at the back) and were adapted to accommodate the area's tropical weather, which is primarily warm throughout the year and receives heavy rainfall. Earlier versions were more open, designed to better circulate air and features inner courtyards, with a frontal yard, rear yard, or both. A typical Malaysian and Singaporean terraced house is usually one or two floors high, but a handful of three or four storey terraced homes exist, especially newer terraced houses. Earlier variations followed traditional Western, Malay, India and Chinese architecture, as well asArt DecoandInternationalstylings between the 1930s and 1950s.

The manner in which the buildings were designed varies by their location in an urban area. Derivatives located within city centres may also utilize their space for both commercial on the ground floor and residential use on the first floor and above (accurately known asshophouses,also similar toLingnan buildings). Inner city terrace house design tended to lack any frontal yard at all, with narrow street frontages, hence the building's structure directly erected in front of the road. One of the reasons behind this was the taxing according to street frontage rather than total area, thereby creating an economic motivation to build narrow and deeply. Afive foot wayporchwas usually laid out at the ground floor for use by both the residents and pedestrians. Alternatively, the porch may be sealed from the rest of the walkway to serve as personal space. Such designs became less common after the 1960s.

Terrace houses located on the outskirts of city centres were less restrictive, although the design of the building itself was not unlike those in the city. Certain homes tend to feature longer front yards, enough to accommodate cars. Others strictly serve as a small garden. This design remained in demand throughout the twentieth century, and a construction boom of the house design occurred in Malaysia since the 1940s, with numerous housing estates consisting of terrace homes sprouting in and around cities and towns. In the process, the design of the building began to diversify, with various refinements and style changes. Generally, the building's floor space and yards become larger and more elaborate through time, as is the modernisation of exterior construction and façade.

Certain older terrace houses tend to be converted for various new roles; some are converted into shophouses or business premises (including clubs, hotels and boarding homes–especially pre-independence houses–and kindergartens). Others have remained in use as residential units, are abandoned, neglected, or razed. Significant expansions are also common on all terrace homes; roofs and additional rooms may be added within the floorspace of the house's lot. Concerns are also raised with the limited maintenance and monitoring of deserted terrace homes, which potentially become hiding places for rodents and snakes (in yards with overgrown grass), and drug addicts.

Earlier variations of the terrace house were constructed with wood, later replaced with a masonry shell holding wooden beams to form foundations for the upper floors and tiled roof. Contemporary variations are primarily held together with reinforced concrete beams, which are later completed with concrete slabs, brick walls and tiled roofs.

See also

• Alley house
• Back-to-back house
• List of house types
• Semi-detached
• Shotgun house
• Townhouse
• Machiya(Japanese version)

References and notes

Further reading

• Chen (1998).The Encyclopedia of Malaysia.Vol. 5.
• Hayward, Mary Ellen; Belfoure, Charles (2001).The Baltimore Rowhouse.Princeton Architectural Press.ISBN978-1-56898-283-0.
• Howells, T.; Morris, C. (1999).Terrace houses in Australia.Lansdowne: The Rocks, N.S.W.ISBN1863026495.
• Muthesius, Stefan (1982).The English Terraced House.ISBN9780300028713.
• Summerson, John (1988).Georgian London.ISBN9780712620956.
• Summerson, John(1963) [1947].John Wood and the English town-planning tradition.Heavenly Mansions.

External links

• "A tribute to the typical terraced houses of Leicester, UK".le.ac.uk.