When youre shopping for a home, your head may quickly begin to swirl with all the terminology thrown at you. There no question that housing styles are diversified, often reflecting a particular era or design trend. When youre reading ads, it helps to know whats what. So, lets look at the most popular housing styles to which most people gravitate:

Cape Cod Home:

The original cape cod style emerged as early as the 1600, but really became popular in the 1930s. This particular home has a gabled roof and a chimney, dormers, hard wood floors and multi-pane windows. The house is typically covered with brick or wood shingles, has a centrally-located front door and 1.5 stories.

Colonial Housing:

Colonial homes seem to sell quickly. These typically offer at least two floors (sometimes three) and at least one good size chimney if not two. The colonial house has clapboard siding, paired multi-pane windows evenly spaced, and a centralized front door. One feature that sets a colonial home apart is the crown over the front door, framed out with pillars.

Contemporary:

Contemporary homes are rather hard to describe as they can vary greatly from one to the next (sadly having watched the Jetsons as a youngperson wont help figure this one out). Some defining features in contemporary homes is that they tend to be very clean in their design, sometimes having a very geometric feel, open floor plans and high cathedral ceilings. Contemporary homes may also have flat roofs (sometimes used for a deck), and natural siding (such as stone).

Cottages:

Not all cottages are cozy. In fact the cottage style home can be large. Some of the things that characterize cottages is their landscaping (trellises, window boxes, etc.), a brick chimney, large windows, a tall roof, and often shingled siding. Besides this, there is rarely a direct path to the front door. Instead the rout winds through the yard becoming part of the overall house portrait.

Craftsman:

Craftsman homes grew out of the arts and crafts movement in the early 1900s, and as the name implies theres a lot of hands-on elements in them. Here you get gabled roofs, expansive porches where you can welcomein-laws, stucco or wood siding, an open floor plan and very earthy colors. Ornamental beams are also often part of this design.

Farmhouse:

If you want a porch that wraps all around your home, very simple trim, and tall windows, then a farmhouse may be for you. In essence a farmhouse is somewhat like a Victorian home without all the flash and fanfare.

Greek Revival:

Greek revival homes were very popular in the South. The windows are tall to let in plentiful sunlight, roofs are low-pitched, and decorative pillars and moldings abound. The exterior is usually a pristine white clapboard.

International:

If you like things clean and crisp, then an international style home might be right up your alley. Plenty of open spaces characterize this house, along with predominantly beige paint, huge windows, and a steel/concrete construction.

Mediterranean:

If youre yearning for a bit of Italy in your own back yard, then consider a Mediterranean revival style home. The Southwest portion of the US has an abundance of these characterized as adobe-like with low roofs, clay tiles, inner courtyards and terracotta walkways.

Ranch:

No, not the salad dressing the house. During the mid 1950s people were buying these like crazy because Ranch housing fits a tight budget. Ranches have only one story, low pitched roofs, an attached garage, and tend to be on the simple side. They also often feature sliding glass doors.

Tudor

Tudor (not two door) homes look a bit like the castle of your dreams. Theyre dotted with wide gables, huge chimneys, narrow windows, and brick / stucco / or stone trim. Older Tudor homes date to the 20s and 30s. Newer ones were built in the mid-1970s.

Victorian:

Victorian homes can take your breath away. Not just because theyre beautiful but the upkeep can be quite intensive because theyre BIG. The Victorian home has lots of ornamental woodwork, steep roofs, turrets, a porch, unique paint combinations, and shingled or clapboard siding.

Summary:

Believe it or not that only skims the surface of the types of home styles out there, but knowing these will put you ahead of a lot ofpotential buyerswho have no clue what sets one style apart from another, particularly when youre reading for sale ads.