my really wierd idea

[bob haller]

I will be 60 in january. my family moved from another part of pittsburgh in 1972. when i was 12.

geez thats a long time.

i got thinking my original house... i always wanted to decorate it really nice with lights.

a real grizwalds christmas.

i had a dream, i won the lottery and gave the current owners of the home enough bucks to really deck out the house. my original house would look awesome with tons of lights.

i wonder if anyone has ever done such a insane thing?

one thing for certain, its a unique idea

[clare]

Well, I'll be 65 next year, and our family moved in the mid to late '70s. If I paid to light it The old place) up today it would be 2 new Semi-Detatched homes as they buldozed the old place about 3 years ago

- at about 152 years of age. That was the 6th place my parents lived after their marriage (in 8 years) and all the rest are still standing, although the one we lived in when I was born is about 4 or 5 times as big today. The old Riverside house was the first house my parents owned, and the one they lived in longest.

[Cindy Hamilton]

Thanks for the opportunity to learn something new today. I googled "semi-detached house".

Cindy Hamilton

[Ed Pawlowski]

Often called a twin house. There were very common in the neighborhood where I grew up in Philadelphia. You had a small side yard. Some had the door in the front of the house, others had the front door facing each other on the side.

[Peter]

If the current occupants have not decked out the house with tons of lights, it is probably because (a) they are not Christian, (b) the neighborhood may no longer be predominantly Christian and they don't want to call attention to themselves, (c) they may be Christian but prefer not to celebrate that way, (d) the neighborhood is not affluent, most homeowners don't choose to spend their resources on outdoor ornaments and the owner doesn't want to appear ostentatious or (e) some combination of the above reasons.

Consider if someone who lived in your current house but moved out in

1972 contacted you and offered at no cost to decorate your front lawn and outside walls with the symbols and decorations of Hanukkah, or Kwanzaa, or the Wiccan festival celebrating the winter solstice. Would you be receptive? As Thomas Wolfe famously wrote, "You can't go home again." Age 60 is too young to be looking backward. Appreciate what is now and make plans for next year's enjoyable activities!

[clare]

Real common up here. Also google "link home" - also fairly common, and very similar

[micky]

I won $400,000 in the lottery once but I spent it all on booze and women. No money left for lights.

But I have been back to the home I was born in. about 50 years later. It looked just as good as it did when we left, and it had central AC now, and they replaced the garage door, which needed it. After my father died but before we moved, some guy, maybe someone who mowed the lawn, told my mother the oak tree needed an 18" moat dug around it, and she wasn't convinced he was telling the truth, but she did it. Fifty years later, most of the moat was still there, empty, that is, and the oak tree was bigger than ever. So big one couldn't see anything but leaves out of the 2nd floor front windows. So maybe the moat helped.

I plan to go back again. My room had only one receptacle or so, and when I was about 7, my father paid some guy (my father was not poor or cheap so I think it was an electrician) to put in another receptacle. The guy drilled a hole through the wall from the closet in my parents' room ran some lamp cord from the outlet in that closet through the hole and along the baseboard to a surface-mount receptacle. I'm curious if that is still in use.

[micky]

A northeastern term, maybe. In Indianapolis, they are called doubles.

Why isn't it semi-attached?

[micky]

I did google it but didnt' find anything!

[clare]

Because a single stand alone house is a "detatched" house.

[clare]

That's strange - i got "About 1,740,000,000 results (0.70 seconds) "

[micky]

Well I didn't get that many, only About 1,730,000,000 results, and it took a lot longer, 0.92 seconds. But none of them werre about lkinds of houses, except for those linked to the car.

[clare]

Then you didn't look far enough. A few of the first 10 results.

Link homes are similar to semi-detached homes as they both share a wall with a neighbouring house. The main difference is that link homes do not share a living space wall. They are typically attached at a garage or via the basement, offering more privacy than a semi-detached home. Link homes are perfect for those who are looking for the benefits of a detached home and the affordability of a semi-detached home. If privacy, affordability, and space is important to you, consider a link home! - See more at:

or

Linked houses are "row-houses" or a "semi-detached houses" that are linked structurally only in their foundations. Above ground, these houses appear to be detached houses. Linking up their foundations cuts the cost of constructing them.

see also "linked underground home" or "foundation linked home"

[gfretwell]

In the building code, there are basically 2 kids of residential

1&2 family and Multifamily The rules really start racking up in multifamily "Single family" is a totally detached home. The 2 family is typically called semi detached or duplex. That is 2 homes that share a wall and a zero lot line.

Multi family can be row houses, multiple zero lot line residences that you own from basement to roof. There are also multi story "condo/co op" type buildings with one dwelling over another. The real estate brokers can play all sorts of games with what they call them but that is the basic classification breakdown.

[Cindy Hamilton]

We call 'em duplexes. They're not all that common, but they're not unusual, either. Most people prefer a fully detached home, so duplexes are considered somewhat downmarket, at least in the suburbs and small cities I'm familiar with. I've never lived in a big city.

Cindy Hamilton

[Cindy Hamilton]

I had to google "what is a link home" to get anything but hits for security systems.

Cindy Hamilton

[bob haller]

I am the OP.

my family owned the home until 1972, when we moved, i was 12 years old

a old couple bought the home and lived there till the father died, around 1991.

my grandma was very ill in 1990/ 1991. she died in feb 1991.

that home is like a anchor to me. when times are tough i am drawn to it...

right before my grandma died i drove by early feb 1991.......

the night grandma died i drove by after driving her care giver home..

just a few days later i drove by on the way home from the cemetary. a for sale sign was on the house.

i called the realtor the next morning the home was sold. i wanted to walk thru the house for old times sake, and would of compensated the realtor with some money for his wasted time....

but home was sold.

a new couple with 2 little girls moved in. i have always driven by that home if i was in the neighborhood.

the new owner didnt know who i was, and watched me with interest.......

so i decided the next time i saw him i would identify myself.......

fast forward a bit i was engaged to be married and me and my fiance were at pittsburghs 3 rivers regatta.....bored me and tracey so i suggested i would show here the neighborhood where i grew up.

the property owner saw me . so i identified myself, hey i grew up here, isnt your fireplace beautiful. he asked if i knew tom meehan the next door neghbor, yep so i went and talked to tom. which was pleasant, and confirmed my identity.

told scott the owner i would like to walk thru the house. he said fine but not right now he had just lost is job.

so had me fiances dad. its a small world, the property owner and my fiances day were best friends at work. at budget gourmet a frozen meals plant that had just closed.

the family did some decorating while there girls were young. but that ended some time ago

the home next door is still in the meehan family. terry a son now owns it.

i will add it was creepy seeing the meehan family home on unsolved mysteries hosted by robert stack....

patty meehan there daughter disappered coming home from colorado.

if you google patty meehan missing you will find a link...... and may find some message board posts about this by me. i spoke with her sister for a update. unfortunately patty has never been found.

[Ed Pawlowski]

Duplex is a bit different here, it is one building where one or both are rentals. Link home from what I see is like a row house or town house, each individually owned.

In North America, a duplex house is a dwelling having apartments with separate entrances for two households. This includes two-story houses having a complete apartment on each floor and also side-by-side apartments on a single lot that share a common wall.

[Ed Pawlowski]

I found this Best Answer: Linked houses are "row-houses" or a "semi-detached houses" that are linked structurally only in their foundations. Above ground, these houses appear to be detached houses. Linking up their foundations cuts the cost of constructing them.

[clare]

A link is technically a duplex, but does not share any walls and "looks like" a fully detatched home. It allows more units to be built on smaller lots with all the advantages of a detatched home where bylaws would prevent detatched homes. No side yard requirement between houses because they are "the same building" Less stringent fire-wall requirements because there is no "shared wall" etc.....