About: Types of Homes

Creole Cottage: The most common house type in New Orleans in the 1800s. They are built directly up to the sidewalk with a gable roof. A typical plan has four symmetrical rooms with two cabinets in the rear corners. The cabinet rooms usually have a staircase in one room leading to the attic, and the other cabinet is used for storage. The French type of creole cottage has four French doors on the streets front, whereas the American type has two doors and a double-hung window on the front.

Creole Townhouse: Most common in the Vieux Carre, especially after the fires of 1788 and 1794. The townhouse is a rectangular structure, which is either detached, semidetached, or in rows. They are two to four stories high and have wrought-iron balconies on the second and sometimes third floor. Another common feature is a steeply pitched roof. The first level has arched openings and a passageway leading to a stair gallery between the main house and the service wing off the courtyard. The first floor has double parlors and the second floor normally has a large room spanning the width of the house and another room in the rear.

Center Hall Plan House: An American plan house which has a center hall with rooms on each side.

Side Hall Plan House: An American plan house with an entry hall which parallels the parlor area and other rooms.

Double-Gallery House: A two story building with broad galleries across the front faade on both levels, supported by pillars or columns.

Shotgun Single: A rectangular house with all the rooms directly behind each other in a straight line. They are usually constructed with wood frame and weatherboards and raised on two or three foot brick piers.

Shotgun Double: A two family house comprised of two shotgun singles under one roof joined with a center wall and sharing a front porch and lot.

Camelback: A shotgun single or double with two stories in the rear which normally houses the bedrooms.

Raised Cottage: A one and a half story structure with a center hall and front gallery that is set at least four or five feet above grade.