# Names for different kinds of residences in your part of the world **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [April 16, 2007, 9:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/names-for-different-kinds-of-residences-in-your-part-of-the-world/400309 "2007-04-16T09:05:25Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2007, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/names-for-different-kinds-of-residences-in-your-part-of-the-world/400309/21 "2007-04-16T18:30:57Z")
And one other note, inspired by another thread: ‘motor home’ and ‘mobile home’ are _not_ the same. A motor home is a type of motor vehicle; it’s an RV. I think the expression ‘RV’ is a lot more common these days. ---
**Author:** ![Bobotheoptimist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/919ad9/32.png) [@Bobotheoptimist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bobotheoptimist)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2007, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/names-for-different-kinds-of-residences-in-your-part-of-the-world/400309/22 "2007-04-16T18:39:53Z")
Let’s see what I can come up with for my little world (may or may not reflect the rest of the state, but is fairly close) - **House** - any single family residence not attached to any other residence. **Ranch** - single story house (possibly with basement) usually has attached garage. **Bi-level** - two story house, usually has two flights of stairs just inside the front entrance, bottom floor is “garden level” or half-ass basement. May or may not have attached garage **Tri-level** - offset floors, main level has a short drop to the next level down (3-5 steps) and a larger rise (~8) to the upper floor which is on top of the lower floor and off to the side of the main. May have a basement under the main and usually has a garage under the top floor. **Apartment** - group of rented dwellings in a building **Condo** - just like an apartment except you own it. **Townhouse** - condo’s that are smooshed together side-by-side rather than stacked in apartment fashion. **Duplex** - two houses sharing a common wall. ---
**Author:** ![Sal\_Ammoniac](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8dc957/32.png) [@Sal\_Ammoniac](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sal_Ammoniac)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2007, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/names-for-different-kinds-of-residences-in-your-part-of-the-world/400309/23 "2007-04-16T18:54:05Z")
[QUOTE=Sunspace] To me, an RV (recreational vehicle) is a motor vehicle with sleeping accommodation. They range between converted van and greyhound-bus size. To me, a ‘mobile home’ is a factory-built dwelling that is towed to its destination and placed on jacks. The owner puts a skirting around the base and installs a walk and steps at the entry, and hooks up utilities. It retains its wheels and can be moved again, but isn’t really intended for frequent travel, unlike a trailer. Is this different for you? [/QUOTE] Nope… it’s just that I don’t exactly know what a caravan is! I think of it as being a trailer, but often kind of permanently moored. In other words, an RV with mobile-home characteristics. Could well be wrong, though. ---
**Author:** ![Sal\_Ammoniac](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8dc957/32.png) [@Sal\_Ammoniac](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sal_Ammoniac)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2007, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/names-for-different-kinds-of-residences-in-your-part-of-the-world/400309/24 "2007-04-16T18:56:12Z")
[QUOTE=Sunspace] **Nava** , what do you mean by ‘sky station’ in post #5? [/QUOTE] Channeling **Nava** here, but I think I’m correct: for “sky station” read _station de ski_ – a ski resort, in other words. ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2007, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/names-for-different-kinds-of-residences-in-your-part-of-the-world/400309/25 "2007-04-16T19:04:02Z")
[QUOTE=Beware of Doug] In most of the USA, a **duplex** is a two-unit house, typically symmetrical with the units _side by side_. In apartment-heavy areas like NYC, a **duplex** is a _bi-level apartment_. The one-main-room apartment called an **efficiency** outside the northeast US is known as a **studio** there. [/quote] We call those studios in California too. Or “singles”. I think originally a ‘studio’ was a big well-lighted single room with glass walls and skylights, intended to be used by a real artist as an actual studio, but now it’s pretty much interchangeable with “single”, AFAIK. A peculiar Americanism seems to be using the word “home” to mean “house”, as in the building. We don’t actually use it that way in conversation, but houses are often advertised that way, so you might see a sign advertising “30 New Townhomes”, or “Vista Del Fuego Phase II - 2,3, and 4 Bedroom Homes from $350”. Paul Fussell, in _Class_, decried this usage as a vulgar selling ploy, and I think he was right. ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2007, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/names-for-different-kinds-of-residences-in-your-part-of-the-world/400309/26 "2007-04-16T19:04:41Z")
[QUOTE=Sal Ammoniac] Channeling **Nava** here, but I think I’m correct: for “sky station” read _station de ski_ – a ski resort, in other words. [/QUOTE] Oh! That’s totally not what I would have thought, but makes sense. I had a vision of the stations one would have for flying buses or subway trains or something, like ones in the lines of aerial traffic on the planet Coruscant in _St6ar Wars_. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2007, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/names-for-different-kinds-of-residences-in-your-part-of-the-world/400309/27 "2007-04-16T19:10:59Z")
[QUOTE=Sunspace] …I had a vision of the stations one would have for flying buses or subway trains or something, like ones in the lines of aerial traffic on the planet Coruscant in **St6ar Wars**. 🙂 [/QUOTE] Was _Se7en_ some kind of bizarre sequel to that? ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2007, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/names-for-different-kinds-of-residences-in-your-part-of-the-world/400309/28 "2007-04-16T19:11:32Z")
[QUOTE=Spectre of Pithecanthropus] We call those studios in California too. Or “singles”. I think originally a ‘studio’ was a big well-lighted single room with glass walls and skylights, intended to be used by a real artist as an actual studio, but now it’s pretty much interchangeable with “single”, AFAIK. [/quote] ‘Studio apartment’ seems to be used around here a lot for what I call a “zero-bedroom” apartment, and which others call a ‘bachelor apartment’: an apartment with no separate bedroom, but a combined living/sleeping/dining space. It will probably have a separate kitchen, and must have a separate bathroom. > [@Spectre of Pithecanthropus](#): > > A peculiar Americanism seems to be using the word “home” to mean “house”, as in the building. We don’t actually use it that way in conversation, but houses are often advertised that way, so you might see a sign advertising “30 New Townhomes”, or “Vista Del Fuego Phase II - 2,3, and 4 Bedroom Homes from $350”. > > We also don’t usually say “home” or “homes” to mean the actual physical building, but they are usually marketed that way by developers and realtors. Yes. The marketers around here use ‘home’ to mean ‘house’ as well, and it annoys me a lot. A home is the social construct created by the inhabitants of a house. (Or not. Depending on how Dysfunctional Family Robinson they are.) I know why they do it, of course: they want to give buyers the warm fuzzies just before they sign the paperwork. But it’s imprecise English. ---
**Author:** ![GorillaMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/50afbb/32.png) [@GorillaMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GorillaMan)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2007, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/names-for-different-kinds-of-residences-in-your-part-of-the-world/400309/29 "2007-04-16T19:31:20Z")
[QUOTE=chowder] **Mangetout** : There are a number of converted barns and railway stations which have been turned into quite desirable homes. What would these be classed as? Detached? [/QUOTE] I find that barn conversions get referred to simply as ‘houses’, or as ‘barn’ or ‘converted barn’, depending on the context. Similarly warehouse conversion/flat/apartment. Most old railway stations are pretty much treated as normal houses, and likewise for old pubs, mills, etc. ---
**Author:** ![No\_Me\_Ayudes\_Compadre](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/no_me_ayudes_compadre/32/5224_2.png) [@No\_Me\_Ayudes\_Compadre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/No_Me_Ayudes_Compadre)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2007, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/names-for-different-kinds-of-residences-in-your-part-of-the-world/400309/30 "2007-04-16T19:55:06Z")
Mexico: Casa = House Casa sola = Detached single family home Departamento = Apartment Residencia = Luxurious house (e.g., it’s not a house, it’s a residence) Cuarto = Room (as in a boarding house) Hacienda/Finca/Quinta = Estate (usu. rural) Condominio = Usually refers to what in the U.S. would be a townhouse, while the cognate “condominium” generally refers to an apartment condo in my experience. Also often referred to as “condominio horizontal”. Unidad = Public housing development Penthouse (aka Pent House) = Same as English, top floor of a building Loft (recently introduced to lexicon) = same ---
**Author:** ![Sal\_Ammoniac](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8dc957/32.png) [@Sal\_Ammoniac](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sal_Ammoniac)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2007, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/names-for-different-kinds-of-residences-in-your-part-of-the-world/400309/31 "2007-04-16T20:11:07Z")
I should also mention the “teardown” – small, typically postwar house on a large lot in a desirable town. It’s often replaced by a McMansion. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2007, 10:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/names-for-different-kinds-of-residences-in-your-part-of-the-world/400309/32 "2007-04-16T22:49:43Z")
[QUOTE=chowder] **Mangetout** : There are a number of converted barns and railway stations which have been turned into quite desirable homes. What would these be classed as? Detached? [/QUOTE] Unless they especially resemble a normal detached house after conversion, they may remain uncategorised, even if they would technically fit into a category (‘converted rustic apple barn’, ‘converted Victorian railway station with decorative ironwork’ and the like sound much better on the estate agents’ bills, and in genteel conversation with those you wish to impress) ---
**Author:** ![Key\_Lime\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/48db29/32.png) [@Key\_Lime\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Key_Lime_Guy)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2007, 11:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/names-for-different-kinds-of-residences-in-your-part-of-the-world/400309/33 "2007-04-16T23:01:44Z")
[QUOTE=Bobotheoptimist] Let’s see what I can come up with for my little world (may or may not reflect the rest of the state, but is fairly close) - **House** - any single family residence not attached to any other residence. **Ranch** - single story house (possibly with basement) usually has attached garage. **Bi-level** - two story house, usually has two flights of stairs just inside the front entrance, bottom floor is “garden level” or half-ass basement. May or may not have attached garage **Tri-level** - offset floors, main level has a short drop to the next level down (3-5 steps) and a larger rise (~8) to the upper floor which is on top of the lower floor and off to the side of the main. May have a basement under the main and usually has a garage under the top floor. **Apartment** - group of rented dwellings in a building **Condo** - just like an apartment except you own it. **Townhouse** - condo’s that are smooshed together side-by-side rather than stacked in apartment fashion. **Duplex** - two houses sharing a common wall. [/QUOTE] for middle-west America, add: **Mobile Home** , which isn’t mobile at all **Loft** , an apartment in an old industrial building with tall ceilings (might be rented or owned) **Cabin** a small rustic weekend place in the woods or by a lake ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2007, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/names-for-different-kinds-of-residences-in-your-part-of-the-world/400309/34 "2007-04-16T23:08:00Z")
Oh, in the UK: - Mobile home = (usually) a motorised vehicle with living space - like a Winnebago, although nearly always smaller - Caravan = a towable living space, usually capable of being moved by a car. - Static Caravan - a fairly large accomodation unit that can be moved (albeit with some fuss and bother, and requiring a heavy vehicle such as a lowloader and possibly a crane). ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2007, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/names-for-different-kinds-of-residences-in-your-part-of-the-world/400309/35 "2007-04-16T23:27:41Z")
[QUOTE=Sunspace] Yes. The marketers around here use ‘home’ to mean ‘house’ as well, and it annoys me a lot. A home is the social construct created by the inhabitants of a house. (Or not. Depending on how Dysfunctional Family Robinson they are.) I know why they do it, of course: they want to give buyers the warm fuzzies just before they sign the paperwork. But it’s imprecise English. [/QUOTE] That’s exactly what Fussell thought, in regard to how the term came to be used that way. He goes on to point to the fact that you never hear of a “cathome” or a “beachhome”; both these things being far out of the reach or ken of the middle class, they escape the effects of mass marketing. ---
**Author:** ![Sublight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/439d5e/32.png) [@Sublight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sublight)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2007, 12:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/names-for-different-kinds-of-residences-in-your-part-of-the-world/400309/36 "2007-04-17T00:23:43Z")
**Apaato (Apartment)** - A unit within a larger building available for rent. Apartments are usually on the cheap end of the scale, with few amenities. As a general rule, if your building name includes the word “Haitsu” (Heights), it’s down at the even lower end of the scale. No idea why, that’s just my own observation. **Manshon (Mansion)** - Completly different from the English meaning of the word. A mansion is a unit within a larger building available for sale or rent. The difference between an apartment and a mansion is that mansions are better-built, have more amenities, and more typically occupied by long-term residents. They are also more expensive. If you see an ad for a new building in the newspaper or subway, it’s probably a mansion. Apartments and Mansions have the following classifications One Room - Self explanatory. 1K - One room, plus a kitchen. The kitchen is usually just big enough for a fridge, a gas range top and a sink, leaving maybe four or five square feet of open floor space. 1DK, 2DK, 3DK, etc. - 1, 2 or 3 bedrooms, plus a “dining kitchen”, which is a kitchen large enough to put a table in and use as a room in its own right. 1LDK, 2LDK, 3LDK, etc. - 1,2, or 3 bedrooms, plus a “large dining kitchen” or “living dining kitchen”, which is a large room (living room / dining room combo) with a kitchen attached to it. Right now I live with my wife, son and MIL in a 4LDK mansion. **Ikkenya (One-building House)** - A traditional house, with its own land. ---
**Author:** ![PastAllReason](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f07891/32.png) [@PastAllReason](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PastAllReason)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2007, 12:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/names-for-different-kinds-of-residences-in-your-part-of-the-world/400309/37 "2007-04-17T00:43:16Z")
[QUOTE=Sunspace] > [@Sal Ammoniac](#): > > We have condos, too, but the word is a bit non-specific. It’s usually an apartment (often in a converted triple-decker), but it could be a townhouse or a duplex, or even, though rarely, a detached house. Yes, condos can be townhouses in Ontario as well, though that isn’t nearly as common as apartments. I suppose you could have a condo single-family house, but that would be kind of pointless. 🙂 [/QUOTE] Bungalow condos are becoming fairly common in this part of the world. The attraction of them seems to be that you get the benefits of fully detached and separate housing, while using the condo fees to pay for exterior maintenance such as snow removal or yard work. ---
**Author:** ![urban1a](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/e47c2d/32.png) [@urban1a](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/urban1a)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2007, 2:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/names-for-different-kinds-of-residences-in-your-part-of-the-world/400309/38 "2007-04-17T02:02:19Z")
[QUOTE=Key Lime Guy] for middle-west America, add: **Mobile Home** , which isn’t mobile at all **Loft** , an apartment in an old industrial building with tall ceilings (might be rented or owned) **Cabin** a small rustic weekend place in the woods or by a lake [/QUOTE] Here in the Mile High City (Denver) we apparently have run out of ‘old industrial buildings’ and are building brand new buildings to contain our lofts. At premium prices, of course. Bob ---
**Author:** ![Mbossa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/73ab20/32.png) [@Mbossa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mbossa)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2007, 3:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/names-for-different-kinds-of-residences-in-your-part-of-the-world/400309/39 "2007-04-17T03:16:05Z")
The biggest deviation in New Zealand from the rest of the world seems to be our use of the word ‘flat’. There’s probably a huge list of additions and exceptions, but basically a flat is a rented property of any kind. I’d describe the last three or four places I’ve lived in as flats, even though they have all quite clearly been houses (either fully- or semi-detached). But if a _family_ rents a house, they probably wouldn’t describe it as a ‘flat’. The word only seems to be used when a youngish person lives with non-relatives (flatmates) for the purpose of sharing rent, or if the property is too small to be described as a house. I have a couple of friends who have been together for a good 5 years and are as good as married (we’re really just waiting for the announcement). They rent a house together, and they share quite a few of their finances, but they still refer to their joint bank account as their “flat account”. Oh yeah, an exclusively Kiwi residential concept is the ‘bach’ (pronounced ‘batch’ rather than ‘Bach’). They are normally fairly crappy little houses near to a beach. People will often go down to the family bach over the Christmas-New Year period and swim, have a barbecue, and/or get drunk. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Plastic\_Ninja](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f07891/32.png) [@Little\_Plastic\_Ninja](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Plastic_Ninja)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2007, 5:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/names-for-different-kinds-of-residences-in-your-part-of-the-world/400309/40 "2007-04-17T05:10:09Z")
[QUOTE=Key Lime Guy] for middle-west America, add: **Mobile Home** , which isn’t mobile at all **Loft** , an apartment in an old industrial building with tall ceilings (might be rented or owned) **Cabin** a small rustic weekend place in the woods or by a lake [/QUOTE] What you call “mobile home” can be a “double-wide” if there’s two of them snapped together like [so](http://www.affordablehousinginstitute.org/blogs/us/Doublewide_in_place_small.jpg) . Also called “trailer homes” and can be found in trailer parks and further down the road I live on. Ranch homes here – often sprawling single-story. Split-level – sort of a one-and-a-half story detached house. I never knew why these existed but I thought they were awfully cool in the 80s. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/names-for-different-kinds-of-residences-in-your-part-of-the-world/400309.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/names-for-different-kinds-of-residences-in-your-part-of-the-world/400309.md?page=3)