Stacked Townhouse

 

Time period:1990s to present
Location: Washington, DC metropolitan area, also found in other places.

Twice the density, half the land cost: a 2-story townhouse on top of another 2-story townhouse

Key features
- Family sized housing, with 3+ bedrooms.
- Marketed as townhouses, cheaper than regular townhouses.
- Also known as a "2 over 2"

Rowhouses and townhouses historically have been a popular housing type in the Mid-Atlantic region, stretching from New Jersey down to Northern Virginia.  The stacked townhouse is the latest version of this type.  

The Washington DC are has become one of the fastest growing and wealthiest metropolitan areas in the country in the last 20-30 years, boosted by the growing role of the federal government. Many businesses that are heavily affected by federal regulations and/or reliant on federal subsidies, such as healthcare, defense, and telecommunications, have decided to have their headquarters in or near DC, even if manufacturing takes place elsewhere.  This has brought in lots of high paid jobs, which in turn creates demand for housing.

Growth has been most noticeable in the high-rise satellite cities built around Metro stations, such as Tysons or Silver Spring. In other places, where land values aren't high enough to justify highrises, townhouses are the go-to housing type, with stacked townhouses being built in land that's zoned for midrise apartments. As they have 3 or more bedrooms, they are a popular choice for families that want a full-sized house (larger units contain features rarely found in apartments, such as family rooms), but want something cheaper than a regular townhouse or detached house.

Why stacked townhouses instead of four stacked flats?  This comes down to a quirk of the building code.  A building with 3 or more units is considered occupancy group R-2 (apartment buildings), which requires two stairs if there are 4 or more floors.  In contrast, a stacked townhouse is considered a duplex, which is occupancy group R-3 (houses & duplexes), which only require one stair.

In stacked townhouses, the upstairs unit on the 3rd and 4th floors is slightly larger than the downstairs unit, since the lower floors also contain the garage and entrance for the upstairs unit.  This type of building has 1 parking space per unit.  In more suburban locations, additional parking is located in parking lots behind the townhouses.

Data
- Density: 20-30 units/acre
- Typical Lot Size: 2,500 square feet (25'x100')
- Typical Zoning: Low Density Multifamily
- Construction Type V (Wood Frame)
- Resident Type: Homeowners.

Where to build 
- Multifamily zones where land value does not justify full size apartment buildings.
- Areas near, but not next to public transit - this design works best for 1-car households.
- Locations with growing numbers of middle and high income families.

Further Reading

Background info https://ggwash.org/view/42112/in-praise-of-the-stacked-townhouse

Example of a stacked townhouse development in Maryland. https://moco360.media/2023/02/07/plans-for-72-stacked-townhomes-move-ahead-in-gaithersburg/ 

Stacked townhouses with modern styling in DC http://www.elevationdcmedia.com/devnews/jacksonplaceflats_09182014.aspx

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