The 19 Most Popular Types of Homes and House Styles

Narrowing down what you want in a home is one of the first steps you should take as you start to browse the homes for sale in your area. With so many different types of homes to choose from, it can be challenging to find a style that best suits your taste, lifestyle and needs.

While location and budget play a significant role in the type of house you will buy, you can still focus on purchasing a home that provides the look and feel you desire.

This article will guide you through the various options, including common home structures, design features and floor plans, to help you determine what type of home may be right for you.

Home types are categorized into two key categories: design structure and architectural style.

• Design structure relates to the building type. For example, a single-family home versus a multifamily property or a modular home.
• Architectural style describes the exterior look of a home and its interior floor plan.

The architectural house style is often driven by when the home was built. For example, Colonial homes are a popular style in historical areas of the East Coast. They date back to British rule and the first English settlers who arrived in the United States.

It’s rare to find a Colonial home in Arizona or New Mexico, where adobe-style homes are far more common.

Before you choose your ideal design, consider the most common style of home in your immediate area. Knowing what types of homes are available nearby will eliminate unpopular house styles from your wish list and make the house hunt much easier. Also, keep in mind that new construction homes can be built to mimic any home style using a variety of materials.

Multifamily homes are buildings with five or more units under one roof. They are typically represented by apartment buildings, where residents can rent, or condominiums, where residents can purchase a unit in the building. Many homebuyers will not purchase a multifamily property but rather rent an apartment until they are ready to buy their own house.

An apartment building is one type of multifamily housing with multiple units under one roof. You may have access to shared amenities in apartment buildings, like a pool, communal area, laundry or other services.

There is no particular set of styles to describe an apartment building or complex. A development could include a highrise building with hundreds of units or multiple garden-style buildings with just a few floors.

A condominium is a large building with multiple housing units under one roof. Each unit in a condo development is individually owned, and all of the owners within a condo have shared ownership of common areas on the property. A condo is typically managed through a homeowners association (HOA), which collects fees from the owners to maintain the building's shared spaces. Individual unit owners are typically responsible for the maintenance and upkeep of their living spaces.

Condominiums are very popular in coastal cities and urban areas. They reduce the ownership burden for some homeowners with less upkeep and are often less expensive to purchase than a single-family home.

Single-family homes are the most popular housing structures in the United States. According to Statista, 79% of all residences purchased in 2023 were single-family homes. 

By definition, a single-family home is a residential property where the homeowner has full ownership of the interior and exterior of the home, as well as the land that it is built on. Most single-family homes don’t have shared walls or spaces like multifamily properties, but there are a few exceptions, including some townhouses, row houses and duplexes.  

A townhouse is a type of single-family home that shares at least one wall with the neighboring unit. The unit owner may have their own yard, entrance and garage space, but they may also share certain common spaces, including the adjoining walls, walkways or a roof.

Because of the shared spaces, most townhouse communities will have an HOA and require a monthly or quarterly fee to maintain common areas.

Row houses are very similar to townhouses. They are single-family units with their own entrances and yard spaces; however, they are adjoined to their neighbors through one or more walls. They are uniform in design and may distinguish themselves with a flat roof in some cases. In areas like Washington, D.C., row houses can span entire blocks. There rarely is a homeowners association with row houses.

A duplex is a type of single-family home with two units under one roof. It is a popular home structure for house-hacking, a strategy in which the home buyer lives in one unit and rents out the other to cover part or all of the mortgage. Duplexes can have shared spaces, like parking areas or backyards, or be completely cut off from others other than a shared wall or roof.

A triplex is a home with three units under one roof. Each unit has its own entrance and interior space. In some cases, there may be a shared entrance, hallway or other common area. Triplexes are common in larger Victorian-style homes that have been converted into individual units on each floor.

“Single-family detached homes are not attached to any other dwellings, they sit individually as a single home,” says Michael Howell, the chairman-elect of the Tri-County Suburban Realtors 2025 board of directors in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania. 

They typically have more outdoor space than other types of properties and may have a dedicated carport, or a detached or attached garage. Within the single-family housing structure, there are a slew of popular architectural styles to choose from.

Colonial homes are popular in historic regions across the North and Southeast in the original 13 colonies. Their design is typically brick, stone or wood frame with a gable roof. This home design was brought over by the original Colonists. “They are typically much older houses,” says Harrison Langley, founder and CEO of MDLR Brands, a modular home builder in Naples, Florida. “There are modern takes on them, but they are traditionally over 200 years old,”

Colonial homes are very symmetrical, with matching windows on each side of the home. They often have a front porch and may have columns at their entrance. “Colonials usually have more closed-off floor plans, lots of fireplaces and smaller rooms that serve a purpose like a dining room, living room and separate kitchen,” Langley adds. They can be up to 2,000 square feet but are more commonly small, ranging from 600 to 1,500 square feet. 

Victorian Homes were popular in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. These elaborate homes were built during the reign of Queen Anne and are usually large wood-frame homes ranging from 2,000 to 4,000 square feet. “They have a steeper gable-roofed, large wrap-around porches off the front because there was no air conditioning,” says Langley. 

These spacious homes typically have intricate interiors with lots of woodwork, crown molding detail, ornate stained glass and large gathering spaces. It’s rare to find a single-story Victorian home; most are two or three stories. Given their size, many convert these mini-mansions into multifamily housing. They can be found in many areas across the West, Northeast, South and Midwest.

Tudor homes are another popular housing style across the North and Northeast. These massive storybook homes were built for the wealthy elite at the turn of the 20th century. “Tudor homes have a lot of stone and brick, often with crossing wood beams. The roof is very steep and sloped. They are very ornamental, with influences from Europe and Germany,” says Langley. 

If you’ve seen a home that reminds you of a fairytale story, it’s likely a Tudor home.

Cape Cod-style homes are commonly found along the coast of the Northeast. These small homes range from 650 to 2,000 square feet and follow a similar symmetry style to colonial homes. However, they are finished with signature weathered cedar shingle siding.

“They often have a steeply pitched roof where the ceiling on the second floor or single floor is angled, not square,” says Howell.

Ranch homes are the most abundant types of homes today. They became the go-to house during the housing boom that followed World War II. Mostly single-story, these long homes have a low-pitched roof and partially open floor plan, with one side dedicated to communal living spaces and a long hallway with bedrooms and bathrooms on the other side.

There are deviations from the original rancher-style home that first began in Southern California, including storybook and split-level ranchers. “A split level is when you enter the home and instantly have steps going up and going down to different living spaces,” explains Howell. However, these aren’t as popular as single-story ranch homes today.

Craftsman bungalow homes are the quaint and charming historical bungalows that you see in historic areas built between the early 1900s and 1950s. Usually under 2,000 square feet, bungalows are modest homes with ornate finishings. The front porch is very decorative, with brick or wooden columns.

Modern home styles have started appearing throughout the United States since the 1950s. These are typically single-story or two-story homes that can take on a variety of architectural features. However, most are a deviation from traditional home styles. Modern homes are more likely to feature expansive windows and clean, sharp lines, as well as industrial elements and more raw materials like wood or stucco.

Midcentury Modern isn’t exactly a modern style of home. It describes the iconic home design that began in the early 1900s and peaked in the 1950s and 1960s.

This design incorporates lots of natural elements, including the heavy use of stone and wood, as well as wide open spaces with large windows. It’s common for Midcentury homes to have a slanted roof and sleek front doors. These homes are minimalist and may have multi-level spaces with short staircases inside to define the living areas.

Contemporary homes are the most modern style of housing. They break the mold from past home styles with their own fresh look and feel. Like midcentury modern houses, contemporary homes are usually large, spacious single-story or two-story homes with big-picture windows to let in natural light. Most contemporary homes will feature industrial design elements like raw metals or exposed beams, which emphasize straight lines and simple design.

Industrial and brutalist design are experiencing a revival. These popular housing styles date back to the mid-1900s. These home designs fall between the modern and contemporary housing categories, with heavy use of natural materials like stucco or concrete. It’s common for the interior design to use industrial elements to accentuate the space.

A modular home is a house that is constructed off-site and then assembled and finished at the building site. These homes can be built to resemble any traditional or modern housing style and are a faster, more affordable and more efficient way to build homes today.

Outside of the modern and traditional housing styles, there are other types of homes to consider. These styles are more common in specific regions, such as wooded remote areas, rural farming regions or parts of Florida or Southern California.

A farmhouse home is common in rural farming areas and cities across the Southeast. These single-family homes can be bungalows or larger ranch-style homes with wide open living spaces, exposed beams and heavy wood accents. Typically, they have a large front porch or wrap-around porch and a steeply pitched roof, which can be made of a metal such as tin. This was an extremely popular home style at the beginning of the 21st century, but it is waning in popularity today.

Mediterranean homes are common in parts of the Southeast, parts of Texas and Southern California. Usually made of stucco or stone, these single-story or two-story homes draw inspiration from villas in Mediterranean countries like Italy, Spain and Greece. They may have intricate tile work on the floor and tile roofs, with rounded picture windows and archways.

Log cabins and A-frames are popular home styles in mountainous or wooded areas. They are built from raw wood beams, tongue and groove wood, or a series of log pieces. The frames of both home types are very basic and provide a cozy cabin feel. Both are unique and easy to identify, with the A-frame roof pitching into a distinct A-shape.

As you can see, a wide range of home styles and structures exist. If you don’t see the style of home you liked from this list, consult your real estate agent and consider looking in a different neighborhood. Many homes were built for the style of the time, and many cities will offer a wide range of home styles for you to choose from if you expand your search further.