Detached Housing-CamelBack, Shotgun
During the last century, people displayed great ingenuity in making detached homes affordable. Some examples are the “shotgun
house” and “camelback” houses built on narrow city lot in New Orleans, Louisiana. Both types of houses are only 12 feet or
14 feet ( 3.65m or 4.26m) wide, a constraint that imposed the design of rooms aligned one behind the other, a layout not dissimilar to the 19
th century railroad flats in New York City tenements. The shotgun house is a single story dwelling and derived its name from the notion that
a person on entering, could shoot a gun, from front to the rear, and not miss a single room. The camelback house is similar; with the
exception that it has a single story front and a two story back with a bedroom above. Apparently, camelbacks originated when municipal taxes
were levied according to the street frontage building height. Both shotgun and camelbacks were very popular in New Orleans with people
whose incomes were modest. To enhance their affordability, shotgun and camelbacks were built semi-detached or even as row
houses (Schoenauer: 1994).
New Orleans, Camel Back, 1985
New Orleans, Camel Back, 1986
New Orleans, Camel Back, 1987
New Orleans, Shotgun house
New Orleans, St Charles Avenue
Shotgun house, New Orleans