In the 10th century, the Chacoan people constructed large, multi-room dwellings, some comprising more than 900 rooms, in the Chaco Canyon area of what is now northwest New Mexico. In 1839, the first New York City tenement was built, housing mainly poor immigrants. The tenements were breeding grounds for outlaws, juvenile delinquents, and organized crime. Muckraker journalist Jacob Riis wrote in How the Other Half Lives:
The New York tough may be ready to kill where his London brother would do little more than scowl; yet, as a general thing he is less repulsively brutal in looks. Here again the reason may be the same: the breed is not so old. A few generations more in the slums, and all that will be changed.
Farmhouse is a general term for the main house of a farm. It is a type of building or house which serves a residential purpose in a rural or agricultural setting. Most often, the surrounding environment will be a farm. Many farm houses are shaped like a T. The perpendicular section is referred to as the ell.
These buildings tend to be more pragmatic than aesthetic. Sometimes a farmhouse may refer to a building design style, or a building’s former purpose. This may occur when the farming area has been developed for other purposes, but the building itself still stands. Architectural styles vary, but very often they are of Cape Cod design. In general styles vary from region to region, but more often the style is simplistic so to serve the needs (and the budget) of the owners.