A townhouse , townhome , town house , or town home , is a type of terraced housing . A modern townhouse is often one with a small footprint on multiple floors. In a different British usage, the term originally referred to any type of city residence (normally in London ) of someone whose main or largest residence was a country house .
33-462: Historically, a townhouse was the city residence of a noble or wealthy family, who would own one or more country houses in which they lived for much of the year. From the 18th century, landowners and their servants would move to a townhouse during the social season (when major balls took place). In the United Kingdom, most townhouses are terraced . Only a small minority of them, generally
66-438: A proportion that is fair and equitable having regard to the costs and benefits of the unit. The owners in the unit title development must meet yearly to approve the levies, the financial statements, long term maintenance plan and fund (if any), approve changes to the body corporate rules (if any), and the appointment of the body corporate chairman and committee (if any). The body corporate can delegate most of their duties to
99-462: A record in Asia, and The Beverly Hills , which consists of multiple rows of townhouses with some units as large as 11,000 square feet (1,000 m). Commonly in the suburbs of major cities, an old house on a large block of land is demolished and replaced by a short row of townhouses, built 'end on' to the street for added privacy. Season (society) The social season , or season , refers to
132-407: Is a form of ownership and housing tenure devised for multi-level apartment blocks and horizontal subdivisions with shared areas. The word "strata" refers to apartments on different levels. Strata title was first introduced in 1961 in the state of New South Wales , Australia, to better cope with the legal ownership of apartment blocks. Previously, the only adequate method of dividing ownership
165-668: Is known to encompass various prestigious events that take place during the spring and summer. According to The Sloaney magazine's online guide "Sloaney Season", it starts with Cheltenham Festival (March), and includes the Grand National (April), The Boat Race (April), Badminton Horse Trials (May), Chelsea Flower Show (May), Epsom Derby (June), Royal Ascot (June), Test matches at Lord's (July), Wimbledon (July), Henley Royal Regatta (July), Edinburgh International Festival (August) and others, ending with Goodwood Revival (September). The London social season evolved in
198-423: Is responsible for maintaining the common property and the structure of the building (if this duty is delegated by the owners), and for insuring the common property and the building structure. The body corporate can set rules governing the use of the common property (for example, an owner who causes damage must repair it) and the units (for example, limiting pets, or noise levels depending on the time of day), and for
231-449: Is where there is a continuous roof and foundation, and a single wall divides adjacent townhouses, but some have a double wall with inches-wide air space in between on a common foundation. A rowhouse will generally be smaller and less luxurious than a dwelling called a townhouse. The name townhouse or townhome was later used to describe non-uniform units in suburban areas that are designed to mimic detached or semi-detached homes. Today,
264-828: The First World War , when many aristocratic families gave up their London mansions. From then on, more society events took place at public venues, making it harder to maintain social exclusivity. The opulent coming-out party held for the 17 year-old Lady Sarah Consuelo Spencer-Churchill on 7 July 1939 at Blenheim Palace in Oxfordshire, less than two months before World War Two was declared, has been styled by some as "the last season ever". Socialite Henry (Chips) Channon noted in his diary: "I have seen much, travelled far and am accustomed to splendour, but there has never been anything like tonight". Many events that take place far from central London (though generally within
297-714: The Home Counties ) came to be regarded as part of the social season, including Royal Ascot and the Henley Royal Regatta . The events that now constitute the London social season are increasingly hosted or sponsored by large companies (i.e. "corporate hospitality"). Western dress codes still apply to certain events in the season, especially those in which the King maintains an official role. Although several of these events are not actually held in London, such as
330-618: The Hurlingham Polo Association at Guards Polo Club , the organisers of most events attempt to avoid date clashes, so it is generally possible to visit all of them in the same year. The traditional end of the London Season is the Glorious Twelfth of August, which marks the beginning of the shooting season. Society would retire to the country to shoot birds during the autumn and hunt foxes during
363-477: The 17th and 18th centuries, and in its traditional form it peaked in the 19th century. In this era the British elite was dominated by families of the nobility and landed gentry , who generally regarded their country house as their main home, but spent several months of the year in the capital to socialise and to engage in politics . The most exclusive events were held at the town mansions of leading members of
SECTION 10
#1732801680846396-476: The United Arab Emirates. Other countries have legislation based on similar principles but with different definitions and using different mechanisms in their administration. Strata title schemes are composed of individual lots and common property. Lots are either apartments, garages or storerooms and each is shown on the title as owned by a lot owner. Common property is defined as everything else on
429-437: The aristocracy. Exclusive public venues such as Almack's played a secondary role. The Season coincided with the sitting of parliament ; it began some time after Christmas and ran until midsummer , roughly late June. Some sources say it began at Parliament's Easter session break. The social season played a role in the political life of the country: the members of the two Houses of Parliament were almost all participants in
462-971: The automobile and denotes a house on a small footprint in a city, but because of its multiple floors (sometimes six or more), it has a large living space, often with servants' quarters. The small footprint of the townhouse allows it to be within walking or mass-transit distance of business and industrial areas of the city, yet luxurious enough for wealthy residents of the city. Townhouses are expensive where detached single-family houses are uncommon, such as in New York City , Chicago , Boston , Philadelphia , Montreal , Washington, D.C. , and San Francisco . Rowhouses are similar and consist of several adjacent, uniform units originally found in older, pre-automobile urban areas such as Baltimore , Philadelphia, Richmond, Virginia , Charleston, South Carolina , Savannah, Georgia and New Orleans , but now found in lower-cost housing developments in suburbs as well. A rowhouse
495-589: The body corporate, which is composed of all unit owners and which legally owns the common property. Creation of a unit title is a type of subdivision and so requires the approval of the relevant territorial authority under the Resource Management Act 1991, as well as under the Unit Titles Act 2010. A unit plan must be deposited with Land Information New Zealand and new titles issue in respect of each principal unit. The body corporate
528-437: The committee of the owners. The body corporate can also enter into service agreements in respect of the administration of the body corporate, usually to a specialist body corporate management firm , and building maintenance, including appointing a building manager. These service agreements must be permitted under the body corporate rules. A body corporate must have a long term maintenance plan, which provides for maintenance of
561-398: The government is made there. The aristocracy inscribes itself there only during sixty days, it there takes its orders, it inspects the government kitchen, it passes in review its daughters to marry, and equipages to sell, it says good-day and goes away promptly ; - it is so little amusing that it supports itself only for the few days called the season. Strata title Strata title
594-580: The houses on the property are owned by the individual owners. In population-dense Asian cities dominated by high-rise residential apartment blocks, such as Hong Kong , townhouses in private housing developments remain almost exclusively populated by the very wealthy due to the rarity and relatively large sizes of the units. Prominent examples in Hong Kong include Severn 8, in which a 5,067-square-foot (470.7 m) townhouse sold for HK$ 285 million (US$ 37 million) in 2008, or HK$ 57,000 (US$ 7,400) per square foot,
627-533: The land and the body corporate pays rent to that person. As New Zealand uses the Torrens System of indefeasible titles, the title for a unit title has a title for the principal unit, showing the legal description of the principal unit and any accessory units and any legal document registered against those units (called an interest); a Supplementary Record Sheet, showing the rules of the body corporate, its registered address and any interests registered against
660-602: The largest, were detached, but even aristocrats whose country houses had grounds of hundreds or thousands of acres often lived in terraced houses in town. For example, the Duke of Norfolk owned Arundel Castle in the country, while his London house, Norfolk House , was a terraced house in St James's Square over 100 feet (30 m) wide. In the United States and Canada, a townhouse has two connotations. The older predates
693-482: The parcel of land that is not comprised in a lot, such as common stairwells, driveways, roofs, gardens and so on. In New Zealand, strata title, commonly called a unit title, is created by the Unit Titles Act 2010. There are 145,000 unit title dwellings in New Zealand. A unit title can be either a stratum in freehold , where the owners own the underlying land, or stratum in leasehold , where another person owns
SECTION 20
#1732801680846726-429: The practice was abolished by Queen Elizabeth II in 1958 - reportedly at Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh 's insistence. Queen Charlotte's Ball ceased to function in 1976, but has been relaunched since, by former debutante Jennie Hallam-Peel , without the monarch's involvement, and with more limited uptake; debutantes instead curtsy to "Queen Charlotte's Birthday Cake". The traditional Season went into decline after
759-413: The regulation of the body corporate. These rules must be registered and non-registered rules do not have legal effect. The operations of the body corporate are paid for by levies on all owners. Levies are assigned based on the ownership interest or utility interest of the particular unit. An ownership interest is based on the value of the unit, while a utility interest is either the ownership interest or
792-632: The season, as all Peers sitting in the House of Lords were by definition nobility, and many if not most Members of the House of Commons were gentry. But the Season also provided an opportunity for the children of marriageable age of the nobility and gentry to be launched into society. Debutantes were formally introduced into society by presentation to the monarch at royal court during the Court Drawing Rooms and Queen Charlotte's Ball until
825-748: The street or at least from the outside. They can be side by side in a row of three or more, in which case they are sometimes referred to as rowhouses . A townhouse in a group of two could be referred to as a townhouse, but in Canada and the US, it is typically called a semi-detached home and in some areas of western Canada, a half-duplex. In Canada, single-family dwellings, be they any type, such as single-family detached homes, apartments, mobile homes, or townhouses, for example, are split into two categories of ownership: Condominium townhouses, just like condominium apartments, are often referred to as condos , thus referring to
858-435: The term townhouse is used to describe units mimicking a detached home that are attached in a multi-unit complex. The distinction between living units called apartments and those called townhouses is that townhouses usually consist of multiple floors and have their own outside door as opposed to having only one level and/or having access via an interior corridor hallway or via an exterior balcony-style walkway (more common in
891-414: The traditional annual period in the spring and summer when it is customary for members of the social elite of British society to hold balls , dinner parties and charity events. Until the First World War , it was also the appropriate time to reside in the city (generally meaning London ) rather than in the country in order to attend such events. In modern times in the United Kingdom, "the Season"
924-518: The type of ownership rather than to the type of dwelling. Since apartment-style condos are the most common, when someone refers to a condo , many erroneously assume that it must be an apartment-style dwelling and that only apartment-style dwellings can be condos. All types of dwellings can be condos, and this is therefore true of townhouses. A brownstone townhouse is a particular variety found in New York. In Asia, Australia, South Africa and Zimbabwe,
957-466: The underlying land; and the survey plan, which shows the boundaries of the units and the common property. A person purchasing a unit title purchases a principal unit, which is designed as a place of business or residence; any accessory units included in the title for the principal unit, such as car parks and storage lockers; and a beneficial interest in the common property, such as corridors, air ducts, building structure and entry ways; and membership in
990-492: The usage of the term follows the North American sense. Townhouses are generally found in complexes. Large complexes often have high security, resort facilities such as swimming pools, gyms, parks and playground equipment. Typically, a townhouse has a strata title ; i.e., a type of title where the common property (landscaped area, public corridors, building structure, etc.) is owned by a corporation of individual owners and
1023-487: The warmer climates). Another distinction is that in most areas of the US outside of the very largest cities, apartment refers to rental housing, and townhouse typically refers to an individually owned dwelling, with no other unit beneath or above although the term townhouse-style (rental) apartment is also heard for bi-level apartments. Townhouses can also be "stacked". Such homes have multiple units vertically (typically two), normally each with its own private entrance from
Townhouse - Misplaced Pages Continue
1056-420: The winter before coming back to London again with the spring. For some time there was also the " Harrogate Season", where members of the upper classes would stop at Harrogate Spa to take in the waters on their way from London up to their shooting estates in the north. Many events of the season have traditional expectations with regard to Western dress codes . London is the capital of shops and of speculation,
1089-590: Was company title, which had a number of defects, such as the difficulty of instituting mortgages. This term also applies to house-type strata title units in Australia. Other countries that have adopted the Australian system (or a similar variant) of apartment ownership include: Canada ( Alberta , British Columbia ), Fiji, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, New Zealand, the Philippines, Singapore, South Africa and
#845154