Semi-detached
A semi-detached house (often abbreviated to semi) is a single-family duplex dwelling that shares one common wall with its neighbour.
[2] Housing for the farm labourer's family in 1815 typically had one downstairs room with an extension for a scullery (for washing) and pantry (for storing food), and two bedrooms upstairs.
[3] Population was increasing rapidly (see table), and after the inclosure acts labourers could not find spare land to build their own homes.
By the early 19th century, landowners were typically using a "picturesque" style, and building double cottages as a way to reduce cost.
[7] In their 1850 publication The Dwellings of the Labouring Classes, written by Henry Roberts, the society laid out plans for model 'semi-detached' cottages for workers in towns and the city.
In 1866 the Metropolitan Association for Improving the Dwellings of the Industrious Classes built Alexander Cottages at Beckenham in Kent, on land provided by the Duke of Westminster.
[7] In Birmingham, Wolverhampton and the Potteries there was a tradition dating from the 1790s of artisans saving through mutual funds and friendly societies.
[10]At Bournville in 1879 the Cadbury development started with a detached house for the manager and six pairs of semis with large gardens for key workers.
By 1895 the village was made up of semis and short terraces, showing that a low density layout could be a practical possibility even for the working classes.
The examples of Bournville and Port Sunlight were seized on by Ebenezer Howard, and they became key models for the Garden City movement.
Most early examples are in areas such as Blackheath, Chalk Farm and St John's Wood, then considered suburbs but now part of Inner London.
The earliest identifiable surviving pair is that built in 1759 on Cable Street (now facing the bus station and partly demolished) for Captain Henry Fell and Samuel Simpson.
Similarly, the landscape gardener John Claudius Loudon built a pair of semi-detached villas fashioned to appear as a single house in Porchester Terrace in 1825.
In his 1838 book The Suburban Gardener and Villa Companion he gives advice on how to disguise the join between the houses by using false windows.
[14][15] The Public Health Act 1875 described the structure and required minimum size of terraced houses and the street pattern that towns had to adopt.
During the First World War the Tudor Walters Report was published, setting standards for the accommodations needed for returning soldiers, dubbed "homes fit for heroes".
[20] Although semi-detached housing is built throughout the world, it is generally seen as particularly symbolic of the suburbanisation of the United Kingdom and Ireland, or post-war homes in Canada.
In Sydney, semi-detached houses were briefly popular at the beginning of the 20th century and many examples may be found in inner suburbs such as Drummoyne.
[citation needed] The semi-detached house was seen as a good fit for downtown Toronto's narrow lots early in the city's history.
In the late 19th century semis were built in areas such as The Annex and Cabbagetown in assorted styles: Gothic Revival, Queen Anne, Second Empire, bay-and-gable.
