Ordinary Homes of the United States

  Time period:2000s to 2015, limited height afterwards Location: Washington DC Adding floors (and homes) on top of a rowhouse  Key features - Narrow lot - Reuses lower floors of an existing rowhouse The rowhouse, a multistory house on its own lot but sharing a wall with its neighbors, is a common type of home in the Mid-Atlantic region. In Philadelphia and Baltimore, rowhouses make up half of all homes. In Washington DC, 1 in 4 homes is a rowhouse.  Elsewhere in the United States, rowhouses make up less than 10%. The classic rowhouse is only one room wide, and has the living room and kitchen on the 1st floor, and two bedrooms on the 2nd floor. Like other US cities, DC started getting tall buildings in the late 1800s. However, unlike other cities, the US Congress has the power to pass local laws in DC, and in 1899 Congress passed a citywide height limit that banned skyscrapers. In the mid and late 20th century, as number of government workers increased, this height limit ...

  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 ta...