There are many types of housing: detached houses, semi-detached houses, terraced houses and flats. Some of the detached houses are cottages and bungalows.
A detached house can take on any form or style. It does not matter if the house is a bungalow, a cottage or a mansion. As long as it is not joined to another house, it is a detached house. One advantage of a detached house is the fact that the free space surrounding the building is belongs to the family. You can do whatever you would like to be done in your house. The disadvantage is that all repairs in the house should be made by the owner.
A semi-detached house is a pair of houses that share one common wall. The two houses are built to mirror each other. One advantage of living in a semi-detached house is that there is still some privacy even if one wall is shared by the two houses. A disadvantage is that you are responsible for the upkeep of your side of the house. Another disadvantage is that you cannot just plan repairs or renovations as you have to consider your twin house.
Terraced housing is also known as townhouses. The origin of this type of dwelling was in the 17th century in Europe. A row of identical looking houses share side walls. In the past, terrace housing used to be only associated with the working class for this type of housing was cheap, small and had very little privacy. As time went by, terrace housing became known as townhouses which were more associated with the rich.
A flat or an apartment is a part of a larger building. Such building is called an apartment building or a block of flats. A flat can be a studio unit, a one-bedroom, two-bedroom or three-bedroom unit.
We have a nice flat in a new block of flats. Our flat is on the fourth floor. It has all modern conveniences: central heating, gas, electricity, cold and hot running water, a lift and a chute to carry rubbish down. There are three rooms, a kitchen, a bathroom and a hall in our flat. The living-room is the largest and most comfortable room in the flat. It’s really wonderful to have a room for yourself. My room is not large but very cozy. There isn’t much furniture in it, only the most necessary. The warmest place in our flat is the kitchen, I think — the place where the whole family gathers every evening not only to have supper together, but also to speak and rest. I like the English proverb: «My home is my castle» because my flat is, indeed, my castle.
I dream of having a double-storey house with a swimming pool behind it. I wish I had my own room and we could see the sea out of the living room window. If we had such house I’d be the happiest person. I like reading and drawing very much that’s why I want to have a library and in the evenings I would draw beautiful views surrounding our house. I wish there were a big kitchen in our house where my whole family could have dinner. I would also like to have a big TV set and a huge fireplace in our living room. I hope my dream will come true soon.
