Popular Types of Houses

A house is a building that functions as a home. They can range from simple dwellings such as
rudimentary huts of nomadic tribes and the improvised shacks in shantytowns to complex,
fixed structures of wood, brick, concrete or other materials containing plumbing, ventilation,
and electrical systems. In other words, it is a building for human habitation, especially one
that is lived in by a family or small group of people.

Barn
People were using a barn structure as a house and a
stable at the same time, gaining all the benefits of living
in close quarters with animals. They were simple to build
and customize to an owner’s needs with a few different
styles depending on the region.

 The sheep were penned in behind the barn.

Apartment building (U.S) /Block of Flats (U.K)

A suite of rooms forming one residence, typically in a

building containing a number of these.

 There’s a nine-storey apartment building next to the

bank.

Bungalow
A low house, with a broad front porch, having either no
upper floor or upper rooms set in the roof, typically with
dormer windows.

 I share a bungalow with my nan and our pet dog

Ben.
Cabin
A small shelter or house, made of wood and situated in a
wild or remote area.

 He showed her to a small cabin.

Camper van
A campervan (or camper van), sometimes referred to as
a camper, or a caravanette is a self-propelled vehicle
that provides both transport and sleeping
accommodation.
The term mainly describes vans that have been fitted out,
often with a coach built body for use as
accommodation.
 We bought a camper van so we could go away
whenever the fancy took us.
Castle
A large building, typically of the medieval period, fortified
against attack with thick walls, battlements, towers, and
in many cases a moat.

 They had to approach the castle through thick

swamps.

Chalet
A wooden house or cottage with overhanging eaves,
typically found in the Swiss Alps.

 The two-bedroom chalet is in good condition.

Colonial
The Colonial home is one of the most popular styles of
home in the United States. The homes are symmetrical, or
square, and feature an entry door that can be found in
the middle of the front of the home. The style also
features two windows on either side of the entry door,
with five windows on the second floor, with one directly
above the entry door.

 We want to live in a colonial house.

Condominium/condo
A condominium, often shortened to condo, in the United
States and in most Canadian provinces, is a type of living
space similar to an apartment but independently sellable
and therefore regarded as real estate.

 They rent out their condominium to skiers during the

winter.

Container house

Container homes made from the steel shipping

containers that you see carrying goods everywhere on
trains, trucks, and ships.

 They are selling container house in the market.

Cottage house
A cottage is, typically, a small house. It may carry the
connotation of being an old or old-fashioned building. In
modern usage, a cottage is usually a modest, often cozy
dwelling, typically in a rural or semi-rural location.

 Since buying the cottage, house prices had started

on a steady descent.
Courtyard house
A courtyard house is a type of house — often a large
house — where the main part of the building is disposed
around a central courtyard.

 We based our proposal upon a traditional Chinese

courtyard house typology.
Detached house
A free-standing residential building. It is sometimes
referred to as a single-family home, as opposed to a
multi-family residential dwelling.

 We live in a three – bedroom detached house in

the suburbs.
Semi-detached houses
A semi-detached house (often abbreviated to semi) is a
single family dwelling house built as one of a pair that
share one common wall. Often, each house’s layout is a
mirror image of the other.

 From the darkness between the semi-detached

houses across the street came the familiar figure of
Jack Stone.
Dormitory/ dorm
A dormitory (often abbreviated to dorm) is a building
primarily providing sleeping and residential quarters for
large numbers of people such as boarding school, high
school, college or university students.

 He was reading a math textbook in the dormitory.

Farmhouse

A farmhouse is a building that serves as the primary

residence in a rural or agricultural setting.

 The only access to the farmhouse is across the

fields.

Hut

A hut is a small house with only one or two rooms,

especially one which is made of wood, mud, grass, or
stones.

 The hut is in the midst of the forest.

Igloo
An igloo, also known as a snow house or snow hut, is a
type of shelter built of snow, typically built when the snow
is easy to compact.

 May you have warmth in your igloo, oil in your

lamp, and peace in your heart.
Lighthouse

A lighthouse is a tower, building, or other type of structure

designed to emit light from a system of lamps and lenses
and to serve as a navigational aid for maritime pilots at
sea or on inland waterways.

 A lighthouse marks the entrance to the harbor.

Manor

A manor house or fortified manor-house is a country

house, which has historically formed the center of a
manor; the principal house of a landed estate.

 It was the quintessence of an English manor house.

Mansion
A mansion is a large dwelling house. Manor comes from
the same root.

 The mansion had an atmosphere of genteel

elegance and decay.
Mobile home/ trailer
A mobile home (also trailer, trailer home, house trailer, static
caravan, residential caravan) is a prefabricated structure, built
in a factory on a permanently attached chassis before being
transported to site (either by being towed or on a trailer). Used
as permanent homes, or for holiday or temporary
accommodation, they are left often permanently or semi-
permanently in one place, but can be moved, and may be
required to move from time to time for legal reasons.
 In the summer her mobile home heats up like an
oven.
Skyscraper/high rise

A skyscraper is a continuously habitable high-rise building

that has over 40 floors and is taller than approximately
150 m.

 From the top of the skyscraper the cars below us

looked like insects.

Split-level
A split-level home (also called a tri-level home) is a style
of house in which the floor levels are staggered. There are
typically two short sets of stairs, one running upward to a
bedroom level, and one going downward toward a
basement area.

 There John built his own split-level house with

electricity and plumbing.
Tent

A portable shelter made of cloth, supported by one or

more poles and stretched tight by cords or loops
attached to pegs driven into the ground.

 We just need a tent supported on a rigid

framework.
Terraced houses

A house built as part of a continuous row in a uniform

style; a row house.

 His home is two terraced houses knocked together,

each the mirror image of the other.

Tower

A tower is a tall structure, taller than it is wide, often by a

significant margin. Towers are distinguished from masts by
their lack of guy-wires and are therefore, along with tall
buildings, self-supporting structures.

 The tower is fifty feet in height.

Tree house

A tree house, tree fort or tree shed is a platform or

building constructed around, next to or among the trunk
or branches of one or more mature trees while above
ground level. Tree houses can be used for recreation,
work space, habitation, and observation.

 I spent hours in our tree house when I was a kid.

Villa

A large and luxurious country house in its own grounds.

 We are quartered in a beautiful villa.