The diferent types of houses have evolved to the same extent that the human being has developed, both because of their work and intellectual capacities and because of construction techniques.
Our species, in order to protect itself, has had to design and build different types of houses, ancient shelters and spectacular dwellings that adapt to their environment.
Cultures around the world are constantly reinterpreting and reinventing the concept of home. This is a type of permanent construction where we spend most of our lives, so its quality of design and construction greatly influences our daily actions.
If you have wondered what types of homes exist, below we will analyze the most important details and characteristics of the different types of HOUSES and their names, and thus understand how and why homes are so different around the world.
Types of Dwellings according to their Microlocation
It is the type of independent single-family house, which does not share any of its walls with another house. This type of residence can be found in towns and country areas, outside the cities, where free land areas abound.
Semi-detached Type Houses
They are houses that are built in pairs, generally from a central axis of symmetry. They are single family duplex dwelling that shares one common wall with the next house.
Townhouses – Row Houses
They are houses that are joined together on one side, forming a set. Also called row houses, coming to form multiple attached houses all in a row.
Chalet Type Homes
They are houses located on the outskirts of the city, this being their main distinctive feature. They are single-family homes with one to three floors and a garden. They differ from the so-called detached houses, because they have a higher standard of design and construction.
Types of Mobile Homes
A mobile home or mobile home is a small house that can be easily transported, because it is provided with a chassis, wheels and a tow bar. They are usually a type of MODULAR HOMES.
Diferent Types of Houses According to The House Height
Types of one-story houses, with all rooms at ground level. They can be beautiful and functional HOUSE DESIGNS.
Duplex Houses (Two-Story Houses)
They are house designs OF TWO FLOORS. The spaces for common use of the house are generally located on the ground floor and the bedrooms and bathrooms on the upper floor. They may also have a basement and terrace.
Diferent Types of Houses according to their Size and Standard
Hut or Rod on Earth
It is a type of very old rustic house, of simple construction, made up of tree branches, leaves or reeds. It was widely used in America and Africa.
Each country has its own style of rural house design and construction, so it cannot be framed in general morphological patterns. Even within the same country, the characteristics of the types of rural dwellings can vary considerably. Therefore, they should be analyzed on a case-by-case basis.
Manor-type houses used to be the houses with the best design standard of their time, in which a family of high noble lineage resided. There are many types of solar houses, one or two stories, wood or stone, depending on their time and style of design and construction.
Currently, some are preserved maintaining their home function or with other uses of a socio-cultural or tourist nature.
Mansions are large, luxurious houses with more than 11 000 sq ft (1,000 square meters) of living space, usually on two or three floors. They usually have a garden in front, a garage and a swimming pool.
They may have different styles of architectural design and decoration. It is one step below the palace.
Palaces (and Castles)
They are types of houses or constructions that serve as homes for important personalities of a country, such as rulers or kings.
The palaces are luxurious buildings, with more than 1,000 square meters of constructed area, with several floors, a large number of spaces and rooms with different functions, parking areas, gardens, squares and basements.
Many old palaces were later converted into public or socio-political buildings, and are currently the seats of government in most countries, with a double function: home and government.
Palace-type homes are more complex buildings, especially due to their large size and multi-functionality.
How many Types of House Designs and Styles Are There?
The most popular house styles that everyone wants. Next we see how many types and styles of houses there are.
Modern type houses are full of charm. Their designs, styles and architecture are very striking and functional, making them jewels of large-scale sculptures. Among the CHARACTERISTICS OF MODERN HOUSES are their plans with fluid, full and empty spaces, and simple volumes, straight lines, among others.
Within the types of modern houses there are different names that we will see below.
The types of contemporary houses are modern houses but with a more current, daring and stylized design. They are houses built in recent years, with modern characteristics and added values, such as a greater emphasis on contrasts and analogies, large overhangs, use of the latest generation materials, exposed materials, and very striking geometric shapes.
Types of Minimalist Houses
In the types of houses with minimalist design, we find simplicity taken to the highest level, both in shapes and spaces, key elements in the design of minimalist house. In this style of homes, monochromatic colors, subtle lighting, structural and spatial purism prevail, among other CHARACTERISTICS OF MINIMALIST HOUSES.
Types of Mediterranean Style Houses
Another type of house is the MEDITERRANEAN STYLE HOUSES. This type of housing, which emerged centuries ago around the Mediterranean Sea, has evolved considerably, becoming currently one of the most desired modern (and rustic) houses in different countries. Being warm climate houses, they have bioclimatic benefits, great functionality and appreciated decorative style.
Rustic Style Homes
Rustic-style homes have wood and natural stone as protagonists, and this can be seen both in their facades and in the interior decoration. It has also evolved over time, and we can see modern rustic houses, with an increase in white surfaces and a lighter decoration, achieving a balance of styles between country and modern.
Loft Type Houses
They refer to houses remodeled from an attic, gallery or warehouse. This type of property has become very fashionable. Its main characteristic is that they do not usually have delimited spaces such as rooms. They usually have a mezzanine or mezzanine inside.
Colonial-type houses are built at different times in history (from the 14th century) depending on the region in question. The roots of the colonial style are in the construction of the cabins and, later, the houses that the European colonists built in America, adapting them to the climate, the constructive and economic possibilities of each site.
Colonial-style houses have their own characteristics in each country, although in a general sense, many aspects are common.
Among its characteristics are , a simple architectural and decorative design, thick stuccoed walls, wooden and tile roofs with 2 and 4 waters, the central patio, the use of columns and semicircular arches, colors in ocher tones, doors and windows of wood.
Today it is very common to find “revivals” : renovation of the original style that takes its essential characteristics to build modern houses.
Ranch Style Homes
If you wonder what a hacienda-type house is, we will explain it below. Hacienda-style houses have characteristics in common with country houses, rustic-style houses, and colonial houses. But they differ from the previous ones.
These types of houses are influenced by the Catholic missions that settled in Latin America, and especially in Mexico. Among its characteristics we have a square plan with a central patio, characteristic colors (red, blue, green, yellow, ocher) used by pre-Hispanic peoples.
I also use abundant plants and pots indoors. This last aspect, in combination with the interior garden and the reflecting pools, are typical influences of Spanish and Arab architecture.
There are more characteristics that distinguish hacienda-style homes, where the interior decoration uses wood in a more robust way than in typical colonial houses.
Gothic Style Houses
The Gothic style of houses did not reach the South American continent, although it did reach North America. This type of houses arose in Europe beginning in the 11th century (1100 AD).
It was mainly used in the construction of castles, houses and churches. Its fundamental architectural characteristic is the emphasis on verticality, an allegory of a closer presence with God. It begins to use the glass and the pointed arch.
Classic Style Homes
Classic-type houses have been built for centuries. This is a style of houses with symmetrical and very orderly facades, with generally sloping roofs, column walls, and block or wood pediments, among other characteristics.
Over time, it has diversified and combined with other architectural styles, finding classic-modern, classic-Mediterranean, neoclassical houses, etc.
Among the types of houses and their names we find the Cottage houses, which tend to be small in size, painted in various light colors and creams, combining characteristics of traditional country houses with quaint and romantic decoration.
This type of housing has been inserted and mixed with other existing housing styles, so we can find Cottage-style cabins, Cottage-style boungalows, cottage-style Victorian houses, among others.
Tudor Style Homes
This style arises in England and corresponds mostly to the 16th century. Some examples of Tudor-style houses are still preserved. They have influences from Gothic style houses. Its sloping roofs of wood and tiles are distinguished by having a greater slope.
Tudor-style houses are characterized by their dark ocher tones. Currently his name corresponds rather to the houses with a facade and a half-timbered structure.
Types of Houses according to Construction Materials
There are different types of materials to build a house, from the most traditional and cheap, to the most modern and resistant materials.
The main types of houses according to their construction materials are listed below.
Wooden Log House
In this type of house, the wooden walls are built from dry logs, treated with a special base of antiseptics and retardants of deterioration by insects. They are homes that insulate the outside climate very well and have great interior comfort.
Homes Built with Adobe
Adobe houses are ecological homes built from low-cost materials, such as earth, clay, sand, straw and water, forming a mortar, capable of solidifying in the Sun and forming resistant walls. The roofs are light, gabled, composed of wooden joists and tiles.
This type of house works well thermally, isolating the outside heat, being a type of bioclimatic house. In Spain it is characteristic in dry regions such as Castilla y León. In African and Latin American countries they are built with very attractive designs.
It basically refers to houses built with a technique of superimposition of small prefabricated pieces, such as rocks, stones, bricks or concrete blocks. Using mostly large stones or blocks, they are joined at the time of building the walls, through a mixture of water, sand, lime or cement.
Types of Brick Houses
A brick house in the country is very easy to harmonize with its surroundings. The houses built of red brick are resistant… See more BRICK HOUSES and their characteristics.
Cinder Block Houses
This is another type of masonry house, very common in the construction of houses with up to 4 floors. This style of construction of block houses are economical, resistant and allow a wide variety of housing models.
Among the different types of houses we also find wooden houses, very popular in areas outside the city. Wood is such a versatile and useful material that it is the most widely used to build types of rural housing.
Wooden house models can be found in different styles, such as Cottage, Modern, Rustic, Revival, including PREFABRICATED WOODEN house types.
With the appearance of cement in 1867, one of the most used construction materials to date appears in England.
Concrete is formed from the mixture of cement, water and gravel, resulting in a material (artificial stone) that can take an infinite number of shapes and that can resist efforts and the passage of time, as much or better than the stone itself. natural.
Reinforced concrete houses have been one of the standard bearers of modern and contemporary architecture, and we can find true works of art within them.
Shipping Container Houses
Homes from shipping containers is another type of houses to build. Houses with shipping containers have been spreading throughout the world, mainly due to their ease of construction and assembly.
Being this one of the most economical styles of prefabricated (modular) housing, it allows variety in its designs and, in turn, has advantages for construction in isolated areas.
There are few examples, but very paradigmatic of types of glass or glass houses. The first of them is found as far back as 1949.
Designed by the American architect Philip Johnson, it is a steel and glass house, on one level. Built in New Canaan, Connecticut, the proportions, the use of materials and a simple design are the most striking features of this paradigmatic work from the beginnings of Modern Architecture.
Some 70 years later, we can appreciate other examples of houses where glass makes a great presence, such as the impressive 3-story house that LIONEL MESSI RENTED IN MIAMI, to spend his vacations.
Types of Houses with their Names
Next we will know another classification of the types of houses with their names, which exist around the world.
A Rondavel house is an African hut shaped like a cone (roof) and a cylinder (walls) . For centuries, it has been a typical house for indigenous Africans, who used to build it with local materials, such as wood and tree branches.
Currently they are built with blocks, clays and other resistant materials. Today we see Rondavels in different countries of Africa, being visitor or tourist houses. SEE MORE.
House on Stilts
Types of ecological houses originating in America, which are based on pillars, columns or wooden stakes, which are inserted over peaceful waters. SEE MORE.
The Yurta house is a type of traditional housing of the nomadic peoples of Central Asia, originally from Mongolia. The YURTA is usually built from a round wooden structure, which is later covered with felt or natural or artificial wool.
Igloo House Type
The igloo is a type of house that is still being built in arctic regions, such as Greenland, where the temperature is always below -40 degrees Celsius. Its only building material is ice. The tools: a shovel and a knife.
The characteristic shape of an igloo is the dome, a hemisphere made of blocks of ice. In Antarctica, Eskimos still live , (people of the Mongolian race that inhabit the Arctic) and still build IGLOO, as shelters during hunting seasons.
They are three types of typical huts where indigenous tribes of the Baliem Valley, Indonesia live. Shaped like a cylinder (on the walls) and cone (on the roof), the traditional HONAI or (rumah adat Honai) huts are built from organic materials, such as wood, reeds and dry straw.
The underground houses , is a type of buried architecture, with bioclimatic characteristics, which reduce the thermal load towards the interior spaces, improving from a certain point of view the comfort and well-being. There are ancient and modern UNDERGROUND HOUSES all over the world…
The Teepes (Anglo-Saxon term) is a type of dwelling created by nomadic tribes originating from the Great Prairies of North America. They were used as tents and removable houses to shelter from the weather and travel long distances in search of new territories to live. TIPI houses have evolved, modifying their shape and uses…
The Gingerbread style of houses consisted of the construction of wooden houses with a highly detailed level of their decorations, known as gingerbread decorations.
They were mannerist houses, built with wood, a modification of the neo-Gothic architecture of England and brought to the United States. Its origins date back to the mid-19th century, establishing itself at the beginning of the 20th, in the United States and Haiti.
The Victorian style (of houses) arose in England in the mid-19th century. The term Victoriana, in architecture, refers to the reign of Victoria (1837-1901). Victorian houses were built in different mixes (eclecticism) of earlier architectural styles, such as Gothic and Baroque.
The Eclectic Style had a great international proliferation. Good examples of Victorian houses are preserved in London, Glasgow and Manchester, in Sydney, Bombay, in Boston, among other cities.
Types of Houses according to the Location of the Yard
Houses and apartments can also be classified according to the location of the patio within it.
Homes without Patio
- Small Row Houses. According to the dictionary of the englich language , it is a building that has several small housing units, continuously, occupied by low-income families. Usually a common bathroom and patio are shared.
- Apartments. They are homes without a patio, for a single family, in multi-story buildings. They are generally made up of one or more rooms, a living room, a kitchen and a bathroom.
Houses with Central Courtyard
Houses WITH CENTRAL PATIO, another of the types of houses, whose main characteristic is to include an open space or central patio inside, to improve the interior climate, lighting and the possibility of including a garden.
Homes with Side Patio
In this case, the light patio is located on one side of the house, between the wall that delimits the plot and an exterior wall of the house.
Homes with Patio and Backyard
Homes that have a type of architecture with two patios: an interior patio and a backyard, this one at the back of the house.