Bert Hyman wrote:
In "Don Phillipson"
wrote:


"Nick" wrote in message
groups.com...


what is the difference between single family home and town house?
When I do some research for housing, and the websites always ask me
what type of house I want to search,like single family home, town
house, house. What is the difference?

Town house is American realtor language
for the British terrace house or row house.


Row houses are common in the US too; Baltimore (where I grew up) is (or
used to be) famous for them. Unfortunately, the term "row house" took on
a connotation of "slum housing" a while back. Again, Baltimore can be
used as an example for that too.

I was somewhat shocked when a brand new condominium project out here in
St. Paul called itself "The Rowhouses on Snelling" [Snelling Ave., a
major thoroughfare, named after Josiah Snelling, a military officer
particularly responsible for the "pacification" of the region],
apparently counting on the fact that midwesterners weren't too familiar
with the negative image.


The general negative image may be limited to Baltimore? Not all cities
give rowhouses the "slum housing" connotation - think of Elfreth's Alley
the "oldest still residential street" or Rittenhouse Square in
Philadelphia, or some of the residential streets in downtown Annapolis,
or the brownstones (essentially rowhouses) in Brooklyn. Sure, all these
places have run-down neighborhoods with rowhouses but they also have
upscale neighborhoods with elegant rowhouses.