Home with two stories A duplex home design consists of two living units that are joined to each other, either next to each other as townhouses or condominiums, or above each other as apartments. They are also called "two-story houses" or "two-family homes".
Townhouse - Two family homes may be one unit with separate entrances for each household (or "townhouses"), or they may be two adjacent units (a row house and a single-family house, for example). In most cases, there is a common area shared by both households - a front yard, back yard, patio, balcony, etc. - so everyone has access to the outdoors, even if they don't necessarily go outside every day.
Apartment - An apartment is a room or suite in an apartment building. Each apartment usually has a private entrance, a kitchen (often with a dishwasher), a bathroom, and a living room. Some larger apartments may have a dining room, a laundry room, and/or another bedroom. In some countries such as France, Germany and Switzerland, the word "apartment" also refers to smaller housing units within residential buildings, which are often but not always divided into rooms; this usage differs from its English meaning.
Duplex A duplex is a multi-family residence with two units in one building, regardless of how those units are configured. Units can be stacked on top of each other or side by side. Each apartment in a duplex structure has two distinct entrances. One entrance leads to the common area shared by both apartments, such as a hallway or stairway. The other entrance leads to an independent unit.
Duplexes were popular during the boom years of the 1920s and 1930s when there was a shortage of housing. They're also used today for commercial purposes. For example, a duplex might be used as office space over two separate ownership groups. Or, it could be used as a hotel where each unit receives a separate address but is accessible through a common lobby.
A two-unit home is similar to a duplex, except that it contains only two apartments instead of four. It's important to understand that while a two-unit home may have two bedrooms and two bathrooms, this does not mean that it contains two separate living spaces. Rather, it means that there are two rooms with a shared bathroom between them. These could be one large room with bunk beds or they could be separate bedrooms with their own private bathrooms.
Two-unit homes are most commonly found in older neighborhoods where space is at a premium.
A duplex is a single structure with a single owner that has two dwellings with individual entrances (either side by side or above and downstairs). A townhouse, on the other hand, is made up of multiple units that share walls and are separately owned. Although both are usually found in urban areas, a townhouse can be rural as well.
They are not the same thing. A townhouse can be duplexable if it has two separate ownership segments - one for each unit inside. This allows for more flexible use of each property segment while still keeping the overall look of one single residence.
Duplexes and triplexes are also forms of townhouses but they refer to three-unit buildings. Quads are four-unit buildings. Five or more units are called high-rises or high-density housing.
In addition to having more than one entrance, a townhouse must have at least five feet of space between any two apartments or rooms. This space is called an alleyway and is required by law in most cities. If there is no alley, then the townhouse is considered illegal and can't be built in most places. Alleys were once thought to be useful when building houses close together, but now we know that people want their own spaces so this rule was created to protect renters from being housed next to someone who smokes or has dogs.
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