Talk:Terraced house
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[edit] US usage
Once again, a Wikipedia article gives short shrift to American usage and presents the British as if it were the canonical term. (Can we have separate en-US and en-GB Wikipedias?)
The article says:
- Terrace housing in American usage generally continued to be called rowhouses in the Eastern U.S., but west of the Mississippi, "townhouse" is preferred.
(Aside: this sentence is obviously written by an American, at least; a Brit would say "the east of the USA". Probably the only such part of the article.) In any event, I don't believe this to be correct. I believe the term "rowhouse" is current only in those communities where it is historically significant, such as Baltimore. Even there, in my (admittedly hazy) recollection, "rowhouse" referred exclusively to older, urban housing stock; recent or suburban construction would be referred to as a "townhouse" or "townhome". The rowhouse in Baltimore was functionally equivalent to the Boston triple-decker: an inexpensive, lower-density multifamily dwelling of a sort which isn't built any more because building codes do not permit. 18.26.0.18 03:42, 11 Feb 2005 (UTC)
- I have similar impressions. In particular, they are almost exclusively called "townhouses" in Atlanta, which is not west of the Mississippi. --Delirium 21:24, Apr 5, 2005 (UTC)
I live in New York, and I have *never* heard them called "rowhouses" until I found this article. We call them "townhouses." --Jen Moakler 03:03, 29 December 2005 (UTC)
...getting better; but, (aside from the fact that referring to maryland/baltimore as part of the southern united states is both dubious and loaded - every bit as much as referring to maryland/baltimore as part of the northeast. it is always best to refer to the region as the mid atlantic (see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maryland#Cultural_Identity). southerners typically consider maryland the north. northerners typically consider maryland the south. marylanders themselves are conflicted about their own identity, etc...), the term rowhome refers very specifically to terraced housing narrower than 16 feet (providing housing for the previously working class citizenry), and the term is only used inside the baltimore city limits. post war terraced housing is always refered to as townhouses. in neighborhoods where 16 feet or wider is the norm, the term rowhome is not used. nor is the term ever used outside the city limits (excluding 19th century working class communities where the architectural trends were identical to those within the city). unsure of the general usage in the southern united states, but in washington d.c., closer to the south than baltimore, the term rowhome has never been used (in d.c., sixteen feet or wider is the norm... perhaps explaining the different usage).
example: the charles village homes pictured for the article are generally not considered rowhomes. although they are a fine example of american terraced housing.
[edit] Praise
looked at this article about 6 months ago -it is now much improved. :] Leonig Mig 23:37, 20 July 2005 (UTC)
In my opinion, it’s not desirable to perpetually ask for separate Wikipedias... then every country would need it’s own, and I don’t believe that’s the purpose of an encyclopedia which is arranged by languages (and for my understanding american english is not yet a separate language). But well, I’m German, so what do I know? :-) My advice is you should work together to form an article that serves everybody and not complain about what’s wrong or missing.
And as I recall from my time in New York, rowhouses there are also called "townhouses", especially if they are not made of brown stone. 84.183.77.204 14:20, 29 August 2005 (UTC)
[edit] Philly
- I was born and raised in Philadelphia where I lived in a rowhome. My entire neighborhood was later demolished and partially replaced with townhouses.--Tomtom9041 15:29, 11 August 2006 (UTC)
[edit] MOVED
This article has been moved to create a more worldwide view, it was established that it is called a townhome or town house in Canada, the USA and Australia amongst others, terraced housing on the other hand is a UK term therefore 3 countries to 1. There is at least 200 redirects to this page though so it could take a while to get her done but I'll start. TotallyTempo 06:07, 21 October 2006 (UTC)
In Australia, whilst the term "townhouse" (one word, not two) is commonly used to refer to modern houses built in rows with common walls, the term "terrace house" refers exclusively to Victorian or Edwardian houses. Michael from Queensland, Australia Therefore we are now in a postion of 2 countries to 2!! The Republic of Ireland has not yet been included in this article so it would be interesting to obtain some input on behalf of this treasured repository of terraced houses.
I do apologize for the spelling mistake,I am aware of Australia's proper spelling, we also call them townhouses across the nation in Canada, (I moved from the west coast to central Canada and the usage didn't change) but townhouse already has an article talking about some mansions. However I had never heard of terraced housing, and this would seem to reflect consensus among Amercian users also. TotallyTempo 19:42, 21 October 2006 (UTC)
Point taken, TotallyTempo. So, having come in and redistributed other people's work, how about contributing some material about Canadian Row or terrace housing? Both France and Britain have extensive areas of attached housing from the 18th century onwards, and with Canada inheriting both cultures no doubt some excellent architectural examples exist in your nation, so some text and photos would be much appreciated. (Michael, Queensland, Australia).
There is now a double redirect for "terrace house". This is unnacceptable. Was there a vote on this decision ?? --Biatch 05:27, 25 October 2006 (UTC)
I just clicked the article and saw no double redirect, whoever fixed it, thanks. I do not have a scanner or digital camera so I cannot take photos of townhouses around here even though there are TONS including the one I live in , sorry. TotallyTempo 06:16, 26 October 2006 (UTC)
- I'll send you my old one if you're interested ;) can't get enough of these things :) There are tons round me too, but I think if there are a lots, then the key is to find and feature only the really notable ones. Ones that represent something different or unique. This was hard for me, but I had to cut down the list somehow otherwise I'd be putting to many up. --Biatch 07:32, 27 October 2006 (UTC)
That's very nice of you, unfortunatley none here are notable, in fact this area is probably the most generic houses ever, just a giant box. TotallyTempo 20:30, 18 January 2007 (UTC)
[edit] Terraces in Queensland ?
Hi Biatch, Michael here from Queensland. Thanks for putting me onto Cook's Terrace. Saw them from West End side of the River and couldn't believe what I was seeing! Not sure how to send you a msg (Wiki newbie!) so my email address is ggardnerau@yahoo.com.au if you would like to email me with your address. For the last 4 years I have had a pretty crappy site "Australian Terraced Houses" at http://odin.prohosting.com/terraces/ that's in urgent need of replacing - haven't done anything to it for ages and it's been defaced by the free hosting service with all sorts of ads and junk. Going to relocate and completely re-do the site with a nice clean paid host, hopefully before Christmas. The opposite of you I am stuck in Bris and can't get any further than Sydney and would love to have some of your material on the new site, if that's ok, and of course link externally from Wikipedia. It will be the only site in Australia as far as I know.
If you can get out of Melb. for the day, Geelong has a couple of nice examples but Queenscliff on the Bellarine Peninsula has a few short rows in the back streets, the place looks for all the world like an English Seaside town dropped from the sky onto the Victorian Coast!!
Grew up in UK and lived for years in terraced houses in Cardiff, Wales, which is probably the best preserved Victorian city in Britain. Came to Australia in the 70s and was stunned to see all the terraces in Sydney, hooked ever since.
Hope to hear from you
PS in Bris there are supposed to be a couple of good examples in Dutton Park near the Gabba, can't find them. Any suggestions?
In that case if we are only putting notable ones up none around here qualify anyways, my building is a giant box.
- Thanks for the tip Michael. I have been to Queenscliff, but have only seen the mansions, not the terraces, come to think of it, I can think of some terraces in Geelong though. Luckily I escaped from Queensland. I have seen a few scattered terraces in the Dutton Park and even Annerly areas, but I don't know which streets. If you want to leave a message on my talk page, just click on the link on my signature. You may be interested to have a look at some of the suburb pages I've been maintaining, like South Melbourne, Victoria. I have been taking photos of some of the best examples and uploading them with information I can find on them. With regards to use of the photos, you are completely free to do so. I have uploaded them into the public domain, so I don't own the rights to them anymore anyway. Information should be free ;) --Biatch 22:46, 29 October 2006 (UTC) (Talk)
[edit] Merger with Townhouse
I was wondering why the articles "Townhouse" and "Townhome" are seperate. At least put a link on the pages, or redirect "Row house" here, because this looks much more like a house that's in a row. 64.40.52.63 00:18, 11 January 2007 (UTC)
In answer to your question, if you look at the "Moved" section above you will note that a Canadian person called TotallyTempo made a unanimous decision to call this page "Townhome" and proceeded to rearrange all the links. Prior to this the page was called "Terraced Houses" which is the common usage in Britain, Australia and New Zealand. In the United States I believe that "Rowhouse" or "Row House" is common usage in the main areas where such homes are found, such as Baltimore and Philadelphia.
As far as I am concerned "Townhome" is a term I have never heard of! (I am from Britain but now living in Australia). In Australia and to a certain degree in Britain the term "townhouse" refers to modern terraced or row houses usually built as an integrated property development along the same lines as US "condos".
If I had my "druthers" I would like to see 2 pages, with cross links. One of them would be "Terraced Houses" with UK and Australian content and the other "Row Houses" with American content. "Townhouse" in the British sense of a "pied-a-terre" for rich country dwelling aristocrats is really in another category altogether and should not be confused with the use of "townhouse" as the modern low-cost rows of joined-up houses.
The confusion seems to arise from American readers not recognising what is meant by "Terraced Housing" and British/Australian/Irish/New Zealand readers not being familiar with "Row Housing". At the end of the day we all know what the concept involves, but there's no real international word to describe it (like in English we have many names for Cattle but no name for an individual cattle animal) Cow - bull - heifer - steer - but no universal - get the idea??
--MichaelGG 12:38, 18 January 2007 (UTC)User:MichaelGG
- I disagree with the idea of splitting the articles. I think we'd be much better served merging all articles that refer to this style of housing, with a section at the top called 'Names' that defines each term and where it is used. Also, you are wrong on the usage in the US. Rowhouse is hardly used here, with townhouse or townhome being the typical designation for this style of housing. I don't see any need for multiple articles defining the exact same thing, even if the term used for it varies on where in the English-speaking world you are standing in. For reference, I am an American living in the desert southwest. --Visual77 03:48, 14 February 2007 (UTC)
Visual77 - I take your point that 'rowhouse' does not describe the modern joined-up style of housing. In Australia and the UK, as well as the USA this style is nearly always described as 'townhouse'. However 'rowhouse' certainly is used extensively in the USA to describe the OLD houses in Philadelphia, Baltimore and elsewhere. Extract from Wikipedia Baltimore article:
"The streets of Baltimore are organized in a grid pattern. The streets are lined with tens of thousands of brick faced rowhouses. Many consider the rowhouse the architectural form most closely associated to the city. Some rowhouses are dated as far back as the 1790's."
and from Wikipedia on Philadelphia:
"Most of the city's residential neighborhoods are rowhouse communities, noted for streets lined with attached, single-family homes"
Not trying to be pedantic, just pointing out that this page is about the traditional terraced (and row) houses, not the modern complexes of attached homes. --MichaelGG 03:18, 28 February 2007 (UTC)
Well frig if I had known that I wouldn'ta moved it in the first place. sorry then. Oops. Guess my type of house isn't on the wikipedia. That's alright though including the american modern townhouses would be too confusing. TotallyTempo 07:02, 28 February 2007 (UTC)
