Here are the correct descriptions of some of the different types of building styles which apply in Nigeria and around the world.
A Bungalow The word “bungalow” originates from the Indian word bangla, which in the 19th century referred to houses built in the Bengali style in India. Bungalows were created when British colonial administrators adapted the classic Indian style lo level houses with low roofs and verandas built around them. These can either be detached or semi-detached. Places like Surulere and Yaba in Lagos State adopted the bungalow style of building between the 50s-70s and they are still the cheapest most convenient ways to build. You can find some luxurious very good quality bungalows with swimming pools particularly in the United States. The sky is really the limit to your imagination in building (as well as your pocket)
A Detached house is a single standing property on its own plot of land that does not share any walls with any other structure. Due to the land expanse of the property, they’re usually more “private” and generally more expensive than any other type of house depending on the area it is built in
A Semi-detached house is two houses joined together by a common wall. One side of each house shares a common wall, while the other side is detached
A Terrace house is a house that is situated in a long row of houses. They all usually look the same and identical structurally. Both sides of each house in the row share common walls with a neighbouring house, with the exception with the houses at each end of the terrace. They sometimes have a common entrance
An end of Terrace house is a house situated at the end of a terrace. Like a semi-detached house, only one side of the house shares a common wall, while the other is detached.
A Flat: is a living area that is self-contained within only part of a building. Usually, a flat is situated in a building that is split up into multiple living areas for different residents. In some countries, this means exactly the same as an “apartment”
An Apartment/Flat: a self-contained housing unit in a building which is often rented out on a lease basis.. Some people have legal definitions of what constitutes an apartment. In some countries, “apartment” denotes a building that was built specifically for such units, whereas “flat” denotes a unit in a building that had been originally built as a single-family house, but later on subdivided into some multi-unit house type
Duplex house: commonly refers to two separate residences, attached side-by-side, but the term is sometimes used to mean apartments on two different floors (Du-plex)The duplex house often looks like either two houses put together, or as a large single home, and both, literally shares a wall between the halves. The duplex home can appear as a single townhouse section with two different entrances, though the occasional duplex with a shared common entrance and entry hall have been constructed. The jargon terms “triplex” and “four-plex” are names that refer to similar structures with three or four housing units, or floors if referring to apartments, and again the characteristic sharing of structural walls.
A Bedsit A British expression (short for bed-sitting room) for a single-roomed dwelling which usually contains very little furniture and is very compact in design. Literally a bed and a place to sit. In Nigeria, popularly referred to as a “self contained”
A Studio apartment or Studio flat (UK), or Bachelor apartment(US) a suite with a single room that doubles as living/sitting room and bedroom, with a kitchenette and bath squeezed in off to one side. The unit is designed for a single occupant or possibly a couple.
A Townhouse In the UK, is a traditional term for an upper class house in London, and is now coming into use in Nigeria as a term for new terraced houses, which are often three stories tall with a garage on the ground floor.
A Penthouse/Condominium is an apartment which is a single dwelling that is on one of the highest floors of an apartment building or condominium. Penthouses are typically differentiated from other apartments by larger luxury features.
Cottages are not common in Nigeria, but are houses that usually come with one and half storeys. The top floor is much smaller than the ground floor, as the pillars used to hold up the structure takes up a lot of the living space. The thick, dark, classic wood pillars are usually what characterises a cottage abroad, especially in Europe. In Nigeria we have variations of this, mostly seen in our home towns and outside urban areas. Like with bungalows, the structure of cottages varies from country to country.
Hope this is helpful? Have a good week
Caroline A. Akinlotan
