page_title: Chattel house
section_title: Dimensions
hierarchical_section_title: Chattel house / Dimensions
caption_attribution_description: An old chattel house in Bridgetown
context_page_description: Chattel house is a Barbadian word for a small moveable wooden house that working class people would occupy. The term goes back to the plantation days when the home owners would buy houses designed to move from one property to another. The word "chattel" means movable property so the name was appropriate. Chattel houses are set on blocks or a groundsill rather than being anchored into the ground. In addition, they are built entirely out of wood and assembled without nails. This allowed them to be disassembled and moved from place to place. This system was necessary historically because home "owners" typically did not own the land that their house was set on. Instead, their employer often owned the land. In case of a landlord tenant dispute, the house could be quickly moved to a new property.
  It has been customary for people in Barbados to build additions onto their chattel houses. As such, the house may look as though different sections are at slightly different heights or in a different pattern due to each part being constructed at different stages.
context_section_description: Timbers were in pre-cut in standard lengths of 12 to 20 feet (even numbers). The front façades tend to be symmetrical, with the door in centre flanked by a window (equally spaced), on each side. As the financial situation changed additions would be made. 
  The roofs were often made of corrugated metal made of iron.
  A single unit was the first-step and consisted of two rooms within. By nickname, these were often called a "one-roof house".
  Next, a shed may be added onto the back. The second roof added, was often called the "shed roof". Creating what was commonly called a "one-roof house and shed".
  Further-yet another roof was often later added on to the home, transforming it into a "two-roof house and shed". In some cases a "three-roof house" might even be developed with a final shed at the back for use as a kitchen.
  As the dimensions changed the style of roofs also changed.  These earlier styles gave way to the four-sided roof called the 'hip'. or the steep two-sided gable'.  Since then many homes have also transitioned to a more 'flat top' roof with a minimal slope.
caption: Bridgetown, Barbados.
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