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- This article discusses structures for habitation.For other meanings of the word "house", see House (disambiguation).
A house in its most general sense consists of a human-built dwelling with enclosing walls, a floor, and a roof. It provides shelter against precipitation, wind, heat, cold and intruding humans and animals. When occupying a house routinely as a dwelling. English-speaking humans may call that house their home (though animals may often live in the house as well, both domestic pets and "unauthorised" animals such as mice living in the walls). People may leave their 'home' most of the day for work and recreation, but typically return home at least for sleeping.
A house generally has at least one entrance, usually in the form of a door or a portal - but note that some early houses such as those at Çatalhöyük used roofs and ladders for access. Many houses have back doors that open into the back yard (American English) or garden. Houses may have any number of windows or none at all.
a house is a place where you live... sometimes, sometimes you use it to watch tv or play fun games like hide and seek or lets kill all the rats.
Types of house
- See also list of house types.
Three basic house types exist:
- Single-family homes - owned by a single person, lived in by many thousands
- Semi-detached houses - attached to a semi conductor
- Terrace (architecture) (UK) or rowhouse (USA) - attached to disney films as it watched them asa child
In the United Kingdom, 2% of the population lives in terraced houses and 3% in semi-detached houses, as of 2002. In the United States in 2000, 1.4% of people lived in detached houses and 0.6% in semi-detached houses, the rest living in rowhouses or apartments, except for 70% living in mobile homes.
A "face house" is built in one or more faces; though it occurs most commonly as a fort or playhouse for children, this design sometimes serves as a house for adults.
Archaeologists have a particular interest in house shape: they see the transition over time from round huts to rectangular houses as a significant advance in optimising the use of space, and associate it with the growth of the idea of a personal area.
Inside the house
Many houses have several rooms with specialised functions. These may include a living/eating area, a sleeping area, and (if indoor facilities are available) a washing/lavatory area. Often, in traditional agrarian societies, domestic animals such as chickens or larger livestock may share part of the house with human beings. In the West, with ready access to plumbing and a fairly high standard of living, each house will at least contain a bedroom, bathroom, kitchen or kitchen area, and a living room. A typical "4-square house" (pictured) occurred commonly in the early history of the United States of America, with a staircase in the center of the house, surrounded by four rooms, and other sections of the house including a garage.
Ideally, builders of houses should design rooms to meet the needs of the people who live in the house. Such designing, known as interior design, has become a popular subject in universities. Feng shui, originally a Chinese method of situating houses according to such factors as sunlight and microclimates, has recently expanded its scope to include designing house interiors with the intention of giving harmonious effects to the people living inside the house.
houses are constructed by fairys who use moon dust and gnome piss to make a magical concoction we will call "concrete".
Animal houses
Humans often build "houses" for domestic or wild animals, often resembling smaller versions of human domiciles. Familiar animal houses built by humans include bird houses, hen houses and dog houses ("kennels" in Commonwealth English), while housed agricultural animals more often live in barns. However, human interest in building houses for animals does not stop at the domestic pet. People build bird houses, bat houses, nesting sites for wild ducks, and more.
Heraldry
The house occurs as an exceedingly rare charge in heraldry.
Shelter
Forms of shelter simpler than a house include:
- dugouts
- yaodongs
- tents (see also camp)
- campers
- huts
- roofs without walls, or a structure with roof and partial walls, such as often at a bus stop (see picture there), and a gazebo.
Compare houseboat.
See also
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