Portal:Housing

A villa is a type of house that was originally an ancient Roman upper class country house that originally provided an escape from urban life. Since its origins in the Roman villa, the idea and function of a villa have evolved considerably. After the fall of the Roman Republic, villas became small farming compounds, which were increasingly fortified in Late Antiquity, sometimes transferred to the Church for reuse as a monastery. Then they gradually re-evolved through the Middle Ages into elegant upper-class country homes. In the early modern period, any comfortable detached house with a garden near a city or town was likely to be described as a villa; most survivals have now been engulfed by suburbia. In modern parlance, "villa" can refer to various types and sizes of residences, ranging from the suburban semi-detached double villa to, in some countries, especially around the Mediterranean, residences of above average size in the countryside. (Full article...)

• ... that the building housing the city council of Palembang, Indonesia, was claimed to be the "grandest" of its kind?
• ... that Rust Red Hills is being sold to renovate student housing, a court-approved move that museum associations say violates the ethics of deaccessioning?
• ... that a conversion plan led to the "Battle of the Century"?
• ... that a former radio host got a free apartment in New York City's King Manor and lived there for more than three decades?
• ... that the 4,000-year-old Ravenswood standing stone now lies in a cul-de-sac in a 1970s Scottish housing estate?
• ... that although the Wilbraham was built as an apartment building for bachelors, more women than men lived there by 1929?
• ... that the Felix M. Warburg House was converted into the Jewish Museum after nearly being replaced by apartments?
• ... that the Sofia, a condominium building in New York City, was originally a parking garage?

• WikiProject Home Living

• WikiProject Architecture

• WikiProject Housing and Tenant Rights