Typologies

There are a large number of different basic types of apartment buildings in Chicago. As most everyone knows, the basic unit of Chicago housing is the bungalow (in it's long, varied history and forms). However, once one moves into multi-family housing, there are more complicated forms.

Chicago has never really been a row house city to the extent that other large 19th and early 20th century cities are (Baltimore, Philadelphia and San Francisco come to mind). The basic building blocks of apartment buildings start out with the humble two flat and move on from there.

The Two Flat
The Three Flat
The Four Flat
The Six Flat
The Courtyard Building

Of course, there are a huge number of variants in all of these, though they typically follow a few set patterns and aesthetic treatments.

Illustrated is a fairly ordinary limestone two-flat in a winter scene.