Single-family detached home
free-standing residential building
A single-family detached home – also called a single-detached dwelling, single-family residence (SFR), independent house, separate house, or other similar terms – is a free-standing residential building. It is defined in opposition to a multi-family residential dwelling.
Definitions
The definition of this type of house may vary between legal jurisdictions or statistical agencies. The definition, however, generally includes two elements:
Single-family (home, house, or dwelling) means that the building is usually occupied by just one household or family and consists of just one dwelling unit or suite. In some jurisdictions, allowances are made for basement suites or accessory dwelling units without changing the description from "single-family". It does exclude, however, any short-term accommodation (hotel, motels, inns), large-scale rental accommodation (rooming or boarding houses, apartments), or condominia.
Detached (house, home, or dwelling) means that the building does not share walls with other houses. This excludes duplexes, triplexes, fourplexes, or linked houses, as well as all terraced houses and most especially tower blocks which can hold hundreds of families in a single building.
Most single-family homes are built on lots larger than the structure itself, adding an area surrounding the house, which is commonly called a yard in North American English or a garden in British English. Garages can also be found on many lots.
Begin with the source’s own compact description: “Single-family detached home” is free-standing residential building. The dossier treats that line as a proposition to test through Single-family, detached and home, not as a finished interpretation.
Why this record matters
The phrase “free-standing residential building” supplies a clear boundary for inquiry. It also exposes the unanswered questions: who defined that boundary, when it became stable and which sources sit outside it.
Place names and jurisdictional language are key evidence: both can reveal earlier catalogue descriptions and overlooked record series. The source revision retrieved here is dated Apr 26, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q1307276. None of the 0 selected statements returned an explicit reference.
Architectural summaries often privilege surviving fabric and can understate demolished phases, contested use or displaced communities. The source lead contains qualifying language; that uncertainty should survive quotation, summary and reuse. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Treat names, boundaries and functions as historically changeable. Maps, plans, inventories and administrative records can clarify what the place meant at different dates.
- Historic place names
- Jurisdictional context
- Routes into maps and plans
Contemporary maps, plans, listed-building records, estate papers and the responsible local or national archive.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Single-family detached home”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Single-family detached home primary sources, Single-family detached home archive and Single-family research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Single-family detached home”?
- What physical evidence or contemporary plan supports the description?
- Which authority defined the place, boundary or structure at the relevant date?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Single-family detached home” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.