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A bungalow is any single story house. The word dervies from Hindi word bangla from 1676. It literally means a house "in the Bengal style".[1] (http://www.m-w.com/cgi-bin/dictionary?book=Dictionary&va=bungalow) Such houses were traditionally small, only one story, thatched and had a wide veranda[2] (http://www.bartleby.com/61/12/B0551200.html). Bungalows today are simply any single story house and can be quite large. (A joking alternative explanation for the name is that it was invented by a team of house builders who ran out of bricks after constructing the first story and had to bung a low roof on top.)
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. Bungalows can be more easily converted to a wheelchair-accessible home. Neighbourhoods of only bungalows offer more privacy than similar neighbourhoods with two story houses. With bungalows, strategically planted trees and shrubs are usually sufficient to block the view of neighbours. 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 neighbour.
On a per unit area basis (e.g. per square foot), 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 a 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 story 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.)
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 (where 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 where 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.
Bungalow with loft A bungalow with loft, paradoxically, 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 convience 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.
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.
Australian Usage Note that in Australia, where the majority of houses would be called bungalows according to the above definition as they are typically single story, the word usually has a completely different meaning and most Australian would not refer to their houses as bungalows.
A bungalow in Australian English is a small one or two room structure in the back yard of a house, separate from the main building, which might be used by a teenage child, a grandparent (in which case often called a granny flat) or perhaps just for a workshop or a hobby room.
The main exception to this is that pre WW2 houses built in a certain style are called Californian Bungalows: presumably because the style originated in California.
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