Bungalows

A bungalow is a type of building, originally from Bengal region in South Asia, but now found throughout the world. Across the world, the meaning of the word bungalow varies. Common features of many bungalows include verandas and being low-rise. In Australia, the California bungalow was popular after the First World War. In North America and the United Kingdom a bungalow today is a residential building, normally detached, may contain a small loft, which is either single-story or has a second story built into a sloping roof, usually with dormer windows (one-and-a-half stories).

The term originated in India, deriving from the Gujarati બંગલો baṅgalo, meaning "Bengali" and used elliptically for a "house in the Bengal style". This Asian architectural form and design originated in the countryside of Bengal region in South Asia. Such houses were traditionally small, only one story and detached, and had a wide veranda. The term was first found in English from 1696, where it was used to describe "bungales or hovells" in India for English sailors of the East India Company. Later it became used for the spacious homes or official lodgings of officials of the British Raj, and was so known in Britain and later America, where it initially had high status and exotic connotations, and began to be used in the late 19th century for large country or suburban residential buildings built in an Arts and Crafts or other Western vernacular style—essentially as large cottages, a term also sometimes used. Later developers began to use the term for smaller buildings.

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