Discover

A 'bungalow' (, ) is a type of single-story house. The word derives from the Gujarati word 'baṅglo', which in turn came from Hindi 'baṅglā'. It means "Bengali", used elliptically for a "house in the Bengal style".^[1] Such houses were traditionally small, only one story, thatched and had a wide veranda.^[2] Bungalows today are a type of house that is usually single story or one and a half stories, and can be quite large.
In India, the term ''bungalow'' refers to any single-family unit (i.e., a house), as opposed to an apartment building, which is the norm for Indian middle-class city living. The Indian usage is different from the North American usage insofar as a bungalow can be a quite large, multi-storied building which houses a single extended family. In India, owning a bungalow is a highly significant status symbol.
In South Africa, the term ''bungalow'' never refers to a residential house but means a small holiday house, a small log house or a wooden beach house.

Contents

Advantages

Cost and space considerations

Types of American bungalows

Ranch bungalow

Raised bungalow

Chalet Bungalow

American Craftsman Bungalow

California Bungalow

Ultimate Bungalow

Chicago Bungalow

Milwaukee Bungalow

Bungalow style in Australia

Canadian bungalow

Irish bungalow

References

Advantages

Bungalows are very convenient for the homeowner in that all living areas are on a single story and there are no stairs between living areas. A bungalow can be more easily converted to a wheelchair-accessible home. Neighborhoods of only bungalows offer more privacy than similar neighborhoods with two story houses.
With bungalows, strategically planted trees and shrubs are usually sufficient to block the view of neighbors. With two story houses, the extra height requires much taller trees to accomplish the same and it may not be practical to place such tall trees close to the house to obscure the view from the second floor of the next door neighbor. On the other hand even closely spaced bungalows make for quite low density neighborhoods, contributing to urban sprawl.

Cost and space considerations

On a per unit area basis (e.g. per square foot or per square metre), bungalows are more expensive to construct than two story houses because a larger foundation and roof area is required for the same living area. The larger foundation will often translate into larger lot size requirements as well. This is why bungalows are typically fully detached from other houses and do not share a common foundation nor party wall: if the homeowner can afford the extra expense of a bungalow relative to a two story house, they can typically afford to be fully detached as well.
Though the 'footprint' of a bungalow is often a simple rectangle, any foundation is possible. For bungalows with brick walls, the windows are often positioned high and are right to the roof. This avoids the need for special arches or lintels to support the brick wall above the windows. In two storey houses, there is no choice but to continue the brick wall above the window (and the second story windows may be positioned high and right to the roof.)

Types of American bungalows

Ranch bungalow

A ranch bungalow is a bungalow organized so that bedrooms are on one side and "public" areas (kitchen, living/dining/family rooms) are on the other side. If there is an attached garage, the garage is on the public side of the house so that a direct entrance to the house is possible, when this is allowed by legislation. On narrower lots, public areas are at the front of the house and such an organization is typically not called a "ranch" bungalow. Such houses are often smaller and only have 2 bedrooms in the back.

Raised bungalow

A raised bungalow is one in which the basement is partially above ground. The benefit is that more light can enter the basement with above ground windows in the basement. A raised bungalow typically has a foyer at ground level that is half-way between the first floor and the basement. This further has the advantage of creating a foyer with a very high ceiling without the expense of raising the roof or creating a skylight. Raised bungalows often have the garage in the basement. Because the basement is not that deep, and the ground must slope downwards away from the house, the slope of the driveway is quite shallow. This avoids the disadvantage of steep driveways found in most other basement garages. Bungalows without basements can still be raised, but the advantages of raising the bungalow are much less.

Chalet Bungalow

A bungalow with loft comes with a second story loft. The loft may be extra space over the garage. It is often space to the side of a great room with a vaulted ceiling area. The house is still classified and marketed as a bungalow with loft because the main living areas of the house are on one floor. All the convenience of single floor living still applies and the loft is not expected to be accessed on a daily basis.
Some houses have extra bedrooms in the loft or attic area. Such houses are really "one and half" stories and not a bungalow, and are described in British English as a 'chalet bungalow' or 'dormer bungalow'.
True bungalows do not use the attic. Because the attic is not used, the roof pitch can be quite shallow, constrained only by snow load considerations.

American Craftsman Bungalow

The American Craftsman bungalow typified the common styles of the American Arts and Crafts movement -- with common features usually including low-pitch roof lines on a gabled or hipped roof; deeply overhanging eaves; exposed rafters or decorative brackets under the eaves; and a front porch beneath an extension of the main roof.

California Bungalow

The California Bungalow was a widely popular 1 1/2 storey variation on the bungalow in America from 1910 to 1925. It was also widely popular in Australia within the period 1910-1940.

Ultimate Bungalow

The term ultimate bungalow is most commonly used to describe the very large and detailed Craftsman style homes of such California architects as Greene and Greene, Bernard Maybeck, and Julia Morgan.

Chicago Bungalow

The majority of Chicago Bungalows were built between 1910 and 1940. They were typically constructed from brick (sometimes in decorative patterns) and had one and a half stories. At one point, nearly a third of the houses in the Chicago area were bungalows. One primary difference between the Chicago bungalow and other types is that the gables are parallel to the street, rather than perpendicular. Like many other local homes, Chicago bungalows are relatively narrow, ^[3] being an average of 20 feet wide on a standard 25 foot wide city lot.

Milwaukee Bungalow

A large fraction of the older houses in Milwaukee, Wisconsin are
bungalows in a similar Arts and Crafts style to those of Chicago, but
usually with the gable perpendicular to the street. Also, many Milwaukee
bungalows have white stucco on the lower portion of the exterior.

Bungalow style in Australia

The bungalow style often referred to as "California Bungalow" was very popular in Australia from about 1910 to 1930. The style seems to have first been imported in Sydney and then spread throughout the Australian states.

Canadian bungalow

Bungalows were popular in the Toronto area from the 1950s to 1970 period. Early bungalows were single-level brick structures. The later structures often came with an open canopy garage attached to the side. Bungalows are found in suburban areas in and around the Greater Toronto Area.
The ''outer boroughs'' of Toronto are home to hundreds of thousands of bungalows, usually lining tree-dotted side-streets. Once the city ran out of room, these houses had rapidly-increasing prices, since they are closer to downtown, have condominiums densifying the neighborhoods, and that they are on massive lots. East York, Scarborough, York and North York lead in large-scale gentrification and storey-addition of these bungalows, leading to neighborhoods excelling from Middle-Class (and even Lower-Middle-Class) areas to Upper-Middle-Class and Upper-Class neighborhoods. This is exemplified around North York Centre and Scarborough City Centre.
Old Toronto has very few bungalows and Etobicoke is mixed, since some areas are becoming the richest in the city, and some are becoming the poorest, leading to city blocks that can go from upper-middle-class to poverty.
Bungalows were also popular in Calgary from the late 1940s through the 1960s. Calgary bungalows are single-level wooden structures, typically less than 1,000 square feet, and normally feature a detached garage facing onto a back alley, a single bathroom, two or three bedrooms, an eat-in kitchen, and a small living room. Most are located in the neighbourhoods immediately surrounding the inner city, such as Marda Loop, Crescent Heights, and Killarney. As property values have skyrocketed, developers have been purchasing the old bungalows and replacing them with luxury duplexes, each side of which may sell for upwards of $750,000 each.^[4]

Irish bungalow

The bungalow is the most common house built in the Irish countryside. In the 1990s though, there has been a decline in the number of bungalows for the more favorable 2-storey or dormer bungalows.

References

1. Online Etymology Dictionary
2. Bartleby.com
3. The Chicago Bungalow, Field Guide to Chicago Area Buildings
4. Calgary News & Entertainment Weekly