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This article is about the form of dwelling. For other uses, see House (disambiguation).
15th-century Hanging Houses in Cuenca, Spain.

A house is a building that functions as a home for humans or other creatures,[1][2] ranging from simple dwellings such as rudimentary huts of nomadic tribes to complex structures composed of many systems.[3][4]



The English word house derives directly from the Old English Hus meaning "dwelling, shelter, home, house," which in turn derives from Proto-Germanic Khusan (reconstructed by etymological analysis) which is of unknown origin.[5] The house itself gave rise to the letter 'B' through an early Proto-Semitic hieroglyphic symbol depicting a house. The symbol was called "bayt", "bet" or "beth" in various related languages, and became beta, the Greek letter, before it was used by the Romans.[6]

Inside the house[edit]


Example of an early Victorian "Gingerbread House" in Connecticut, United States, built in 1855

Ideally, architects of houses design rooms to meet the needs of the people who will live in the house. Such designing, known as "interior design", has become a popular subject in universities. Feng shui, originally a Chinese method of moving houses according to such factors as rain and micro-climates, has recently expanded its scope to address the design of interior spaces, with a view to promoting harmonious effects on the people living inside the house, although no actual effect has ever been demonstrated. Feng shui can also mean the "aura" in or around a dwelling. Making it comparable to the real-estate sales concept of "indoor-outdoor flow".

The square footage of a house in the United States reports the area of "living space", excluding the garage and other non-living spaces. The "square metres" figure of a house in Europe reports the area of the walls enclosing the home, and thus includes any attached garage and non-living spaces.[citation needed] The number of floors or levels making up the house can affect the square footage of a home.


Many houses have several large rooms with specialized functions and several very small rooms for other various reasons. These may include a living/eating area, a sleeping area, and (if suitable facilities and services exist) separate or combined washing and lavatory areas. Additionally, spa room, indoor pool, indoor basketball court, and so forth. In traditional agriculture-oriented societies, domestic animals such as chickens or larger livestock (like cattle) often share part of the house with human beings. Most conventional modern houses will at least contain a bedroom, bathroom, kitchen or cooking area, and a living room. A typical "foursquare house" (as pictured) occurred commonly in the early history of the US where they were mainly built, with a staircase in the center of the house, surrounded by four rooms, and connected to other sections of the home (including in more recent eras a garage).

History of the interior[edit]

Further information: House plan
Floor plan of a "foursquare" house

Little is known about the earliest origin of the house and its interior, but it can be traced back to the simplest form of shelters. Roman architect Vitruvius' theories have claimed the first form of architecture as a frame of timber branches finished in mud, also known as the primitive hut.[7] Philip Tabor later states the contribution of 17th century Dutch houses as the foundation of houses today.

"As far as the idea of the home is concerned, the home of the home is the Netherlands. This idea's crystallization might be dated to the first three-quarters of the 17th century, when the Dutch Netherlands amassed the unprecedented and unrivalled accumulation of capital, and emptied their purses into domestic space.[8]

Communal rooms[edit]

A traditional Finnish house from the beginning of 20th century in Jyväskylä
Traditional house in Japan
House in Morocco

In the Middle Ages, the Manor Houses facilitated different activities and events. Furthermore, the houses accommodated numerous people, including family, relatives, employees, servants and their guests.[7] Their lifestyles were largely communal, as areas such as the Great Hall enforced the custom of dining and meetings and the Solar intended for shared sleeping beds.[9]

Interconnecting rooms[edit]

During the 15th and 16th centuries, the Italian Renaissance Palazzo consisted of plentiful rooms of connectivity. Unlike the qualities and uses of the Manor Houses, most rooms of the palazzo contained no purpose, yet were given several doors. These doors adjoined rooms in which Robin Evans describes as a "matrix of discrete but thoroughly interconnected chambers."[10] The layout allowed occupants to freely walk room to room from one door to another, thus breaking the boundaries of privacy.

"Once inside it is necessary to pass from on room to the next, then to the next to traverse the building. Where passages and staircases are used, as inevitably they are, they nearly always connect just one space to another and never serve as general distributors of movement. Thus, despite the precise architectural containment offered by the addition of room upon room, the villa was, in terms of occupation, an open plan, relatively permeable to the numerous members of the household."[10]

Although very public, the open plan encouraged sociality and connectivity for all inhabitants.[7]


An early example of the segregation of rooms and consequent enhancement of privacy may be found in 1597 at the Beaufort House built in Chelsea. It was designed by English architect John Thorpe who wrote on his plans, "A Long Entry through all".[11] The separation of the passageway from the room developed the function of the corridor. This new extension was revolutionary at the time, allowing the integration of one door per room, in which all universally connected to the same corridor. English architect Sir Roger Pratt states "the common way in the middle through the whole length of the house, [avoids] the offices from one molesting the other by continual passing through them."[12] Social hierarchies within the 17th century was highly regarded, as architecture was able epitomize the servants and the upper class. More privacy is offered to the occupant as Pratt further claims, "the ordinary servants may never publicly appear in passing to and fro for their occasions there."[12] This social divide between rich and poor favored the physical integration of the corridor into housing by the 19th century.

Sociologist Witold Rybczynski wrote, "the subdivision of the house into day and night uses, and into formal and informal areas, had begun."[13] Rooms were changed from public to private as single entryways forced notions of entering a room with a specific purpose.[7]

Employment-free house[edit]

Compared to the large scaled houses in England and the Renaissance, the 17th Century Dutch house was smaller, and was only inhabited by up to four to five members.[7] This was due to their embracing "self-reliance",[7] in contrast to the dependence on servants, and a design for a lifestyle centered on the family. It was important for the Dutch to separate work from domesticity, as the home became an escape and a place of comfort. This way of living and the home has been noted as highly similar to the contemporary family and their dwellings. House layouts also incorporated the idea of the corridor as well as the importance of function and privacy.

By the end of the 17th Century, the house layout was soon transformed to become employment-free, enforcing these ideas for the future. This came in favour for the industrial revolution, gaining large-scale factory production and workers.[7] The house layout of the Dutch and its functions are still relevant today. The names of parts of a house often echo the names of parts of other buildings, but could typically include:

  • Fireplace (for warmth during winter; generally not found in warmer climates)

Technology and privacy[edit]

Traditional stone house in Serbia

The introduction of technology and electronic systems within the house has questioned the impressions of privacy as well as the segregation of work from home. Technological advances of surveillance and communications allow insight of personal habits and private lives.[7] As a result, the "private becomes ever more public, [and] the desire for a protective home life increases, fuelled by the very media that undermine it" writes Hill.[7] Work also, has been altered due to the increase of communications. The "deluge of information",[7] has expressed the efforts of work, conveniently gaining access inside the house. Although commuting is reduced, "the desire to separate working and living remains apparent."[7] In Jonathan Hill's book Immature Architecture, he identifies this new invasion of privacy as Electromagnetic Weather. Natural or man-made weather remains concurrent inside or outside the house, yet the electromagnetic weather is able to generate within both positions.[7][clarification needed] On the other hand, some architects have designed homes in which eating, working and living are brought together.


See also: House-building
Some houses are constructed from bricks and wood and are later covered by insulating panels. The roof construction is also seen.



Construction of a house using bamboo. Bamboo-made houses are popular in China, Japan and other Asian countries, because of their resistance from earthquakes and hurricanes.



Energy efficiency[edit]

Thermographic comparison of traditional (left) and "passivhaus" (right) buildings


Development of a number of low-energy building types and techniques continues. They include the zero-energy house, the passive solar house, the autonomous buildings, the superinsulated and houses built to the Passivhaus standard.

Earthquake protection[edit]

One tool of earthquake engineering is base isolation which is increasingly used for earthquake protection. Base isolation is a collection of structural elements of a building that should substantially decouple it from the shaking ground thus protecting the building's integrity[15] and enhancing its seismic performance. This technology, which is a kind of seismic vibration control, can be applied both to a newly designed building and to seismic upgrading of existing structures.[16]


Bamboo is an earthquake-resistant material, and is very versatile because it comes from fast-grow plants. Adding that bamboos are common in Asia, bamboo-made houses are popular in some Asian countries.

Found materials[edit]

In many parts of the world, houses are constructed using scavenged materials. In Manila's Payatas neighborhood, slum houses are often made of material sourced from a nearby garbage dump.[17]

In Dakar, it is not uncommon to see houses made of recycled materials standing atop a mixture of garbage and sand which serves as a foundation. The garbage-sand mixture is also used to protect the house from flooding.[18]

Legal issues[edit]

A house in Ontario, Canada

Buildings with historical importance have legal restrictions.

United Kingdom[edit]

New houses in the UK are not covered by the Sale of Goods Act. When purchasing a new house the buyer has different legal protection than when buying other products. New houses in the UK are covered by a National House Building Council guarantee.

United States and Canada[edit]

In the US and Canada, many new houses are built in housing tracts, which provide homeowners a sense of "belonging" and the feeling they have "made the best use" of their money. However, these houses are sometimes built as cheaply and quickly as possible by large builders seeking to maximize profits. Many environmental health issues may be ignored or minimized in the construction of these structures. In one case in Benicia, California, a housing tract was built over an old landfill. Home buyers were never told, and only found out when some began having reactions to high levels of lead and chromium.[19]

Identifying houses[edit]


Animal houses[edit]

Birdhouse made to look like a real house


Houses and symbolism[edit]


Houses of particular historical significance (former residences of the famous, for example, or even just very old houses) may gain a protected status in town planning as examples of built heritage and/or of street scape. Commemorative plaques may mark such structures.


Peter Olshavsky's "House for the Dance of Death"[20] provides a 'pataphysical variation on the house.

See also[edit]


  1. ^ Shelter By Lloyd Kahn. Shelter Publications, Inc., May 1, 2000.
  2. ^ American Shelter: An Illustrated Encyclopedia of the American Home By Les Walker. Overlook Press, July 1, 1998
  4. ^ "housing papers". Retrieved December 18, 2012. 
  5. ^ "Online Etymology Dictionary". Retrieved January 4, 2012. 
  6. ^ Sacks, David (2004). Letter perfect: the marvelous history of our alphabet from A to Z. Random House Digital. pp. 65–66. ISBN 0-7679-1173-3. 
  7. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Hill, Jonathan, “Immaterial Architecture”, New York: Routledge, 2006.
  8. ^ Tabor, Philip, "Striking Home: The Telematic Assault on Identity". Published in Jonathan Hill, editor, Occupying Architecture: Between the Architect and the User.
  9. ^ "Manor House". May 16, 2007. Retrieved January 4, 2012. 
  10. ^ a b Evans, Robin “Translations from Drawing to Building: Figures, Doors and Passages” London: Architectural Associations Publications 2005
  11. ^ Summerson, John “The Book Of Architecture of John Thorpe in Sit John Soan's museum: 40th Volume of the Walpole Society” England: The Society 1964
  12. ^ a b Pratt, Sir Roger “Sir R. Pratt on Architecture” 1928
  13. ^ Rybczynski, Witold (1987). Home: A Short History of An Idea. London: Penguin. p. 56. ISBN 0-14-010231-0. 
  14. ^ "Energy Performance Certificates - what they are : Directgov - Home and community". Retrieved January 4, 2012. 
  15. ^ neesit (April 27, 2007). "YouTube – Testing of a New Line of Seismic Base Isolators". Retrieved January 4, 2012. 
  16. ^ James M. Kelly, Professor Emeritus Civil and Environmental Engineering. "Base Isolation: Origins and Development". National Information Service for Earthquake Engineering, University of California, Berkeley. 
  17. ^ Brown, Andy (2009). "Below the poverty line: living on a garbage dump". Real Lives. UNICEF. Retrieved July 12, 2013. Slum houses, often made of materials scavenged from the dump site... 
  18. ^ Nossiter, Adam (May 2, 2009). "In Senegal, Building on Perilous Layers of Trash". The New York Times. 
  19. ^ "Benicia Suit's `Paltry' Payoff / Plaintiffs' homes built on toxic site". SFGate. 
  20. ^

External links[edit]

  • Media related to Houses at Wikimedia Commons