Single-family detached home

A single-family detached home, also called a single-detached dwelling or separate house is a free-standing residential building. It is defined in opposition to a multi-family dwelling.

Definitions

The definition of this type of house may vary between legal jurisdictions or statistical agencies. The definition, however, generally includes two elements:

a single-family (home, house, or dwelling) means that the building is usually occupied by just one household or family, and consists of just one dwelling unit or suite. In some jurisdictions allowances are made for basement suites or mother-in-law suites without changing the description from "single family". It does exclude, however, any short term accommodation (hotel, motels, inns), large-scale rental accommodation (rooming or boarding houses, apartments), or condominiums.

a detached (house, home, or dwelling) means that the building does not share an inside wall with any other house or dwelling. It has only outside walls and does not touch any other dwelling. This excludes duplexes, threeplexes, fourplexes, or linked houses (which are more properly called semi-detached) as well as all row houses and most especially tower blocks which are the polar opposite as they can hold thousands of families in a single building.

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 North 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. Houses with an attached front entry garage that is closer to the street than any other part of the house is often derisively called a snout house.

Regional terminology

.]] Terms in use are single-family home (in the U.S. and Canada), single-detached dwelling (in Canada), detached house (in the United Kingdom and Canada), separate house (in New Zealand).

In the United Kingdom, the term single-family home is almost unknown, except through internet exposure to U.S. media. While in the U.S. housing is commonly divided into "single-family homes", "multi-family dwellings", and "Condo/Townhouse" etc., the primary division of residential property in British terminology is between "houses" (including "detached", "semi-detached" and "terraced" houses and bungalows) and "flats" (i.e. "apartments" or "condominiums" in American English).

History and distribution

In pre-industrial societies most people live in multi-family dwelling for most of their lives. A child will live with their parents from birth until marriage, and then generally move in with the parents of the man (patrilocal) or the woman (matrilocal), so that the grandparents can help raise the young children and so the middle generation can care for their aging parents. This type of arrangement also saves on the effort and materials used for construction and, in colder climates, heating. If people had to move to a new place or were wealthy enough, they could build or buy a home for their own family, of course but this was not the norm.

The idea of a nuclear family living separately from their relatives as the norm, is a relatively recent development related to rising living standards in North America and Europe during the early modern and modern eras. In the New World where land was plentiful settlement patterns were quite different from the close-knit villages of Europe, meaning many more people lived in large farms separated from their neighbours. This has produced a cultural preference in settler societies for privacy and space. A countervailing trend has been industrialization and urbanization, which as seen more and more people around the world move into multi-story apartment blocks. In the New World, this type of densification was halted and reversed following the Second World War when increased automobile ownership and cheaper building and heating costs produced suburbanization instead.

Single-family homes are now common in rural and suburban and even some urban areas across the New World and Europe, as well as wealthier enclaves within the Third World. They are most common in low-density, high-income regions. For example, in Canada according to the 2006 Census 55.3% of the population lived single-detached houses but this varied substantially by region. In the Ville (city) of Montreal, Canada's second most populous municipality, only 7.5% of the population lived in a single-detached house, while in the City of Calgary, the third most populous, 57.8% did. Note that this includes the "city limits" populations only, not the wider region.

Variations

The term "single family house" describes how a house is built and who lives in it. It does not indicate size, shape, or location. Because they are not surrounded by other buildings, the potential size of a single family house is limited only by the budget of the builder and local law. They can range from a tiny country cottage or cabin or a small suburban prefabricated home to a large McMansion or an aristocratic estate or stately home. Sizes in real estate advertising are given in area (square feet or square metres), or by the number of bedrooms or bathrooms/toilets. The choice in materials used or the shape chosen will depend on what is common to the vernacular architecture of that region, or the lasted trends in professionally-designed tract housing. A traditional log and plaster hut, a timber frame and drywall North American starter home, or a European style concrete and slate house are all equally varieties of single family detached housing.

Pros and cons

, Dyker Heights, Brooklyn, New York, built in 1899 is a single-family detached home.]]

There are advantages and disadvantages to single-detached homes. Advantages are that the entire space around the building is private to the owner and family, in most cases (depending on national/federal, state/provincial and local laws) one can add on to the existing house if more room is needed and there are generally no property management fees such as the ones associated with condominiums and townhomes. Furthermore single family homes in the New World are associated with a suburban lifestyle that many find appealing.

There are also many disadvantages to owning a single-family detached home. All maintenance and repair costs—interior, exterior and everything in between—are at the owner's expense. There is often a lack of amenities such as pools and playgrounds (although some single-detached homes do have these features within the lot or nearby, their owners are commonly required to pay a homeowners fee as those in condos or townhomes). Landscaping and lawn upkeep costs are at the owner's expense.

From an environmental point of view, single family houses are likely to require much more energy to heat in cold weather than do buildings with shared walls, because of their very high surface-area-to-volume ratio. As well in rich countries the people who live single-family houses are much more likely to own and use a private automobile rather than walking, biking, or using public transit to commute. This makes single-family houses part of a much more energy and carbon-intensive lifestyle. As well the low-density nature of this type of housing requires using more land which could otherwise be used for agriculture or as natural habitat.

Inner city neighborhoods of larger cities tend to be 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-detached homes.

Culturally, single family houses are associated with suburbanization in many parts of the world. Owning a home with a yard and a "white picket fence" is seen as a key component of the "American dream" (which also exists with variations in other parts of the world). Single-family homes may also be associated with gated communities, particularly in developing countries.

Inside: rooms

of a single-detached home]] Because single family homes may be massive enough to indulge the taste of the builder and exist in multiple countries with different cultural traditions, they can include every type of room imaginable.

A modern single-detached house has at least the rooms in the first list below. The terminology used in different English-speaking countries varies somewhat.

*Living room (formerly parlor in the U.S. (but in the UK a parlour was often a dining room); also called the lounge in the UK and lounge room in Australia; other terms used in the UK are sitting room and drawing room, the latter now generally only in grander old style properties): Usually the largest room of the house, used for relaxing and entertaining guests.

Kitchen: Food preparation is done here. Some homes feature eat-in kitchens where the family has its meals in the same room as 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, containing a bathtub and possibly a shower. It may be combined with a toilet and include a sink or washbasin. Americans call rooms with a toilet, and no bath or shower a half-bath.

Furthermore, most average houses feature some or many of these rooms:

*Front room: in American English this refers to the room that you first step into upon entering a house; for bigger homes this room is commonly called a hall, foyer, vestibule or entry hall; for small houses, on the other hand, it may be called hallway; in more simple places this is the room where outer garments are kept as are shoes. In British English a front room is a sitting room at the front of a house, and very often does not contain the entryway.

Dining room: When more space is available, the food is eaten in a room separate from the kitchen, the dining room; sometimes the room may be referred to as a formal dining room to highlight the fact that casual everyday meals are commonly eaten in the kitchen, a breakfast nook, or a family room. In British English, a combined food preparation and eating room is a kitchen-diner (mainly 20th century term, out of fashion), a kitchen-breakfast room, or an eat-in-kitchen. Some houses have a separate breakfast room.

Family room: Most often the casual living room that is set apart from the living room by its use, this room is less formal and thus children's toys may be kept out and most often this is the spot for any multimedia entertainment equipment. It is designed to support the need for relaxation and ease of the owner.

Formal living room: the formal room of the house used for representative purposes such as picture taking and entertaining guests. In the UK such a room may be referred to as the drawing room.

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 (North American and Australian English) / utility room (British English): The big appliances are situated in this space as may be a storage of linens or cleaning supplies. Utility room is the standard term in British English, but some grand older British houses still have a laundry (just "laundry", not laundry room).

Study: For self-employed workers and home-workers this may also be called home-office and features the office furnishings 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. In the UK a study is a private room for the owner of the house, but a library is generally open for use by family members and guests.

Playroom: a common term for a children's recreation room in the UK; its function overlaps with that of a family room, and some large houses have both.

Wine cellar: In case the owner is interested in wine, a special room can be added to the house where wine is kept in the dark and at the right temperature.

Studio: For artists and art-lovers this room is used as a creative space.

Game room (American English) / games room (British English): For games like pool/billiards, table tennis, or darts; it may feature a bar. In the UK if the main feature of the room is a full-size billiard/snooker table the room is likely to be referred to as the billiard room (in an older house dating to the era when billiards was the most popular cue sport in the UK, this type of room was standard in Victorian country houses) or the snooker room (in a modern house, as snooker is now more popular).

Bonus Room: An "anything" room that could contain anything from a bed to a pinball machine. Usually built when the house features all the basic rooms, and space is still available. This term is not used in the UK.

Media room / home cinema: A media room is becoming much more popular with the broad array of flat screen TVs and surround sound systems becoming more available and affordable today.

Music room: a living room set aside for music practice and performance. Prevalent in large houses in the 18th and 19th centuries. Not generally found nowadays except in older houses where it has been carried forward since that era.

Separating types of homes

House types include:

Cottage, a small house. In the US, a cottage typically has four main rooms, two either side of a central corridor. It is common to find a lean-to added to the back of the cottage which may accommodate the kitchen, laundry and bathroom. In Australia, it is common for a cottage to have a verandah across its front. In the UK and Ireland any small, old (especially pre World War I) house in a rural or formerly rural location whether with one, two or (rarely) three storeys is a cottage.

Bungalow, in American English this term describes a medium to large sized freestanding house on a generous block in the suburbs, with generally less formal floor plan than a villa. Some rooms in a bungalow typically have doors which link them together. Bungalows may feature a flat roof. In British English it refers to any single storey house (much rarer in the UK than the US).

Villa, a term originating from Roman times, when it was used to refer to a large house which one might retreat to in the country. In the late 19th and early 20th century villa suggested a freestanding comfortable sized house, on a large block, generally found in the suburbs.

Mansion, a very large house, usually of more than one story, on a very large block of land or estate.

Galleries

Common Single-family homes in the United States and Canada

Homes outside the United States and Canada

See also

List of house types

References

External links

Category:House types