Railroad apartment
Encyclopedia
A railroad apartment is an apartment with a series of rooms connecting to each other in a line. A hallway typically runs the length of the apartment or flat from the front door to the back door, outside each room. This is similar in design to a railway car. This usage is most common in New York City
, San Francisco and their surrounding areas. Railroad apartments are common in brownstone
apartment buildings.
Sometimes confused with a shotgun house
, which is just a series of rooms connected directly, with no hallway, railroad apartments do typically have hallways. However, rooms may also connect directly, such as with panel doors that connect the living room to the dining room.
Railroad apartments first made an appearance in New York City in the mid-19th century, and were designed to provide a solution to urban overcrowding. Many early railroad apartments were extremely narrow (some only 20 feet wide), and most buildings were five or six stories high. Few early buildings had internal sanitation, and bathrooms emptied raw sewage into the back yard. In some cases, one family would take up residence in each room, with the hallway providing communal space.
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
, San Francisco and their surrounding areas. Railroad apartments are common in brownstone
Brownstone
Brownstone is a brown Triassic or Jurassic sandstone which was once a popular building material. The term is also used in the United States to refer to a terraced house clad in this material.-Types:-Apostle Island brownstone:...
apartment buildings.
Sometimes confused with a shotgun house
Shotgun house
The shotgun house is a narrow rectangular domestic residence, usually no more than 12 feet wide, with doors at each end. It was the most popular style of house in the Southern United States from the end of the American Civil War , through the 1920s. Alternate names include shotgun shack,...
, which is just a series of rooms connected directly, with no hallway, railroad apartments do typically have hallways. However, rooms may also connect directly, such as with panel doors that connect the living room to the dining room.
Railroad apartments first made an appearance in New York City in the mid-19th century, and were designed to provide a solution to urban overcrowding. Many early railroad apartments were extremely narrow (some only 20 feet wide), and most buildings were five or six stories high. Few early buildings had internal sanitation, and bathrooms emptied raw sewage into the back yard. In some cases, one family would take up residence in each room, with the hallway providing communal space.
See also
- Shotgun houseShotgun houseThe shotgun house is a narrow rectangular domestic residence, usually no more than 12 feet wide, with doors at each end. It was the most popular style of house in the Southern United States from the end of the American Civil War , through the 1920s. Alternate names include shotgun shack,...
- Enfilade (architecture)Enfilade (architecture)In architecture, an enfilade is a suite of rooms formally aligned with each other. This was a common feature in grand European architecture from the Baroque period onwards, although there are earlier examples, such as the Vatican stanze...
– similar design in grand European architecture of the Baroque period - List of house types