Aren't town houses supposed to be wall to wall, not roof to roof?

@MCLegoboy said:
"Aren't town houses supposed to be wall to wall, not roof to roof?"

It's...complicated. My condo association is a series of buildings where individual residences are whole slices of a single building. The end units on each building are all flats or tri-levels, and the units between them are all townhouses. That is, they are two-story, single-family residences (sometimes with a basement, sometimes without). The complex was built up over a few decades, but each building was built whole from one end to the other.

Then there are townhouses like you find in densely populated urban centers, where there's no space between the individual buildings, but each residence is a distinct building. My condo has a staggered-stud shared wall on either side (my wall has 2x4 studs on 16" centers, and my neighbors' walls also have studs on 16" centers, but their studs are located midway between mine, and air-gapped from my drywall so they don't transmit sound as easily). But this style would likely have two solid brick walls butted up against each other, since they might not have been built at the same time.

Another type is just differentiating between the house that a lord owned in the country, and the house that he owned in the population center (country house vs town house). The estate is what made them wealthy, but being able to skip out and enjoy the city life is what the wealth enables. In this sense, they probably wouldn't even share space with other buildings, but would have open land on all four sides. They wouldn't need an expansive yard (the point being that you could see and be seen), but neither would you want anyone to just be able to walk from a neighboring building onto your roof.

@Maxbricks14 said:
"Such a charming little set."

Charming, yes, but those awnings are the worse kind of STAMP. If you take the set completely apart, the slope bricks that they're on won't be held together by anything but the sticker! (I looked the instructions up on Peeron.)

@TheOtherMike said:
" @Maxbricks14 said:
"Such a charming little set."

Charming, yes, but those awnings are the worse kind of STAMP. If you take the set completely apart, the slope bricks that they're on won't be held together by anything but the sticker! (I looked the instructions up on Peeron.)"

They are, but that's not what makes them the worst kind. The lower edge of the awning hangs below the edge of the slope brick, but is probably still coated in adhesive. This is going to attract dust and dirt, and the simple fact that the edge extends beyond the brick means it's going to catch on stuff and pull loose. There's not much surface to adhere to on the toe of a slope brick to begin with, but that pretty much ensures that these are going to pop loose of the front edge at some point.

@PurpleDave said:
" @MCLegoboy said:
"Aren't town houses supposed to be wall to wall, not roof to roof?"

It's...complicated."
Seeing as this is the US version of 376 House with Garden, is it perhaps more likely that the (surely majority back then) Dutch designers built something familiar to them, and then marketing people tried to find a more palatable name for the US market?

I built this years ago from spare parts. It’s a lovely play set and a very effective hinge design. Now I’m wondering if it was the first to use that “hinge to fully close” mechanic that we’re still seeing now

Oh... It's the other set 560.

@stefwaffles said:
" @PurpleDave said:
" @MCLegoboy said:
"Aren't town houses supposed to be wall to wall, not roof to roof?"

It's...complicated."
Seeing as this is the US version of 376 House with Garden, is it perhaps more likely that the (surely majority back then) Dutch designers built something familiar to them, and then marketing people tried to find a more palatable name for the US market?"

That depends on what you consider to be the US market. Currently, the US has over 340 million residents, and only nine cities have a population of one million or higher. My home state is about 60% of the size of the UK, and our largest city has a little over 600k and shrinking, and our next six largest fall between 100k-200k. Actual houses are the norm in all of these cities. Rowhouses would only be found in downtown areas, and even then you're more likely to just find apartments. Anyone who has a single-family residence in a downtown district has to be rich, and anyone who's rich can just afford to have a large house with a full yard somewhere else.

Even in places where rowhouse-style townhouses are actually common, it's the wealthy elite who can afford an entire building to themselves. And even in NYC, you could have a large house (I once stayed in a 4-story house with a yard), or you could live in an apartment in a Manhattan highrise. It's also not uncommon for single-family residences to be bought by someone who then converts them into multi-family apartment buildings (twice I've rented the upstairs of converted two-story houses). If the name was picked to appeal to the US market, it was done so by someone who really doesn't know the US market at all.

I remember as a little wee one dreaming about getting the 588 Police Headquarters from this time.
We were a tight budget family then, but if I remember right mom still got me the helicopter though (645: Police Helicopter).
Wish I saved those some of the little sets mom got me but it was true Lego play and it got all mixed in to make other models. Great times.

I like the size and look of old houses. They lacked interiror detail but, having enough spare parts, I managed to build a widescreen TV in one of my older houses, and a new sofa with curved slopes in another.

@PurpleDave said:
" @TheOtherMike said:
" @Maxbricks14 said:
"Such a charming little set."

Charming, yes, but those awnings are the worse kind of STAMP. If you take the set completely apart, the slope bricks that they're on won't be held together by anything but the sticker! (I looked the instructions up on Peeron.)"

They are, but that's not what makes them the worst kind. The lower edge of the awning hangs below the edge of the slope brick, but is probably still coated in adhesive. This is going to attract dust and dirt, and the simple fact that the edge extends beyond the brick means it's going to catch on stuff and pull loose. There's not much surface to adhere to on the toe of a slope brick to begin with, but that pretty much ensures that these are going to pop loose of the front edge at some point."

Not only that, but the rough texture of the slopes means that the stickers don't attach as well as they do on the smoother surface of bricks or tiles. So they'll easily fall off.

Yep, will definitely try and make this later on this week...love the simplicity with more regular and common pieces and bricks. Sometimes less is more :)

If such set was made today(and slightly upgraded) it would cost 30 dollars. Amazing deal.
Wish Lego wasnt so overdesigned today.

This is one of those sets i really wanted but never had. I think mostly because the two main characters of one of those lego idea books (6000) lived there. In Dutch they were called Hotwie and Roos, and the name Hotwie, is just a strange name i think in any language. Or maybe i just made those names up as a kid and stuck to me.

@jsutton said:
" @Brickodillo said:
"This is one of those sets i really wanted but never had. I think mostly because the two main characters of one of those lego idea books (6000) lived there. In Dutch they were called Hotwie and Roos, and the name Hotwie, is just a strange name i think in any language. Or maybe i just made those names up as a kid and stuck to me. "

Mary & Bill, who became Polka Dot and Captain Indigo …. https://ramblingbrick.com/2019/10/24/after-6000-ideas-the-legacy-of-bill-and-mary-1981-1990/

6000 and 7777 were a triumph and haven’t been bettered since."
Hah, i like it! Captain Indigo and Polka Dot. Maybe Lego needs to bring them back

The first time I saw this set was in an advertisement in a Donald Duck comic. It looked quite charming but a bit weird with the highly detailed awnings and the rest clearly being from an earlier time in the minifig era of history. I loved that it can fold into a single house. Ever since I've compared this feature with other similar houses ad none quite live up to the charm of this set.

A few years ago I found the parts for this set in a bulk lot, which strangely was otherwise 2000s sets only. I decided against trying to complete it as a lot was missing and I had plenty of other stuff to complete as it was. But it mostly was because even when completed, those awnings would just be unstickered bricks and it just wouldn't be the same.

I am still torn on whether I should have tried to get it completed for myself back then or not, as it would probably have cost some more. But even now the simple shaping and colors remain charming :)

The slopes under those awnings are red bricks btw, so they unfortunately look terrible without the stickers, as they blend with the house itself.

@Brickodillo said:
"This is one of those sets i really wanted but never had. I think mostly because the two main characters of one of those lego idea books (6000) lived there. In Dutch they were called Hotwie and Roos, and the name Hotwie, is just a strange name i think in any language. Or maybe i just made those names up as a kid and stuck to me. "

Not exactly this set, but an alternate build of it. There are actually several models in the book that are alternate builds of this set, some of them with a few additional parts. The book also has an ice cream place that is an alternate build of this set and 675-1.

Is it a townhouse, though, or is it a Town™ House?

@paulvdb said:
" @Brickodillo said:
"This is one of those sets i really wanted but never had. I think mostly because the two main characters of one of those lego idea books (6000) lived there. In Dutch they were called Hotwie and Roos, and the name Hotwie, is just a strange name i think in any language. Or maybe i just made those names up as a kid and stuck to me. "

Not exactly this set, but an alternate build of it. There are actually several models in the book that are alternate builds of this set, some of them with a few additional parts. The book also has an ice cream place that is an alternate build of this set and 675-1."
But do you know their Dutch names per chance? Of the two main characters of course

@stefwaffles said:
"Seeing as this is the US version of 376 House with Garden..."

You meant 376-2, not 376. Funny mistake, considering that 376 is the current VSotW!

This was the first set I remember being given as a present when I was a kid that was just for me... and not part of the general Lego that had to be shared with my brother! I loved it, and rebuilt it so many times over the years... but yes, the stickers didn't last long.

@PurpleDave said:
" @TheOtherMike said:
" @Maxbricks14 said:
"Such a charming little set."

Charming, yes, but those awnings are the worse kind of STAMP. If you take the set completely apart, the slope bricks that they're on won't be held together by anything but the sticker! (I looked the instructions up on Peeron.)"

They are, but that's not what makes them the worst kind. The lower edge of the awning hangs below the edge of the slope brick, but is probably still coated in adhesive. This is going to attract dust and dirt, and the simple fact that the edge extends beyond the brick means it's going to catch on stuff and pull loose. There's not much surface to adhere to on the toe of a slope brick to begin with, but that pretty much ensures that these are going to pop loose of the front edge at some point."

BOTH very good point, but the awnings are still the best part of the set !

@Brickodillo said:
" @paulvdb said:
" @Brickodillo said:
"This is one of those sets i really wanted but never had. I think mostly because the two main characters of one of those lego idea books (6000) lived there. In Dutch they were called Hotwie and Roos, and the name Hotwie, is just a strange name i think in any language. Or maybe i just made those names up as a kid and stuck to me. "

Not exactly this set, but an alternate build of it. There are actually several models in the book that are alternate builds of this set, some of them with a few additional parts. The book also has an ice cream place that is an alternate build of this set and 675-1."
But do you know their Dutch names per chance? Of the two main characters of course

"

As far as I know they were only named in the American version of the book. The European version has an introduction on the first page in several languages, but does not give names for the two minifigures.

I miss the simple and charming looking houses built with block walls and roof pieces. I don't like the current hinge pieces and the techniques used to build the roofs of houses today. How easy it would be to have small charming models like these nowadays.

I believe the time has come to stop collecting and buying new Lego games, to return to these origins and rebuild this style of ancient houses and cities. Perhaps just to add some new pieces or accessories in some cases.

Moreover, the savings in money and space will be significant.

I received this new as a child and I still have it - rebuilt it a couple of years ago (minus those awning stickers - long gone sadly). It's very charming, and so nostalgic.

I often prefer the smaller scale of these vintage sets - easier to display, cheaper to acquire parts, easier to build just from inventory, and so on. At the same time, so many of the parts and building techniques introduced since the 1980s are IMHO wonderful and make everything so much better. To me, building in the older overall style and scale is a great approach but it can often be executed better with the help of modern part types and techniques.

@PurpleDave said:
" @MCLegoboy said:
"Aren't town houses supposed to be wall to wall, not roof to roof?"

It's...complicated. My condo association is a series of buildings where individual residences are whole slices of a single building. The end units on each building are all flats or tri-levels, and the units between them are all townhouses. That is, they are two-story, single-family residences (sometimes with a basement, sometimes without). The complex was built up over a few decades, but each building was built whole from one end to the other.

Then there are townhouses like you find in densely populated urban centers, where there's no space between the individual buildings, but each residence is a distinct building. My condo has a staggered-stud shared wall on either side (my wall has 2x4 studs on 16" centers, and my neighbors' walls also have studs on 16" centers, but their studs are located midway between mine, and air-gapped from my drywall so they don't transmit sound as easily). But this style would likely have two solid brick walls butted up against each other, since they might not have been built at the same time.

Another type is just differentiating between the house that a lord owned in the country, and the house that he owned in the population center (country house vs town house). The estate is what made them wealthy, but being able to skip out and enjoy the city life is what the wealth enables. In this sense, they probably wouldn't even share space with other buildings, but would have open land on all four sides. They wouldn't need an expansive yard (the point being that you could see and be seen), but neither would you want anyone to just be able to walk from a neighboring building onto your roof."

There's also the Row House, where because houses in some places were taxed by their wall sizes it was less costly to just scab your house onto your neighbor', build three walls and use theirs to get the fourth free.

This practice was common in Colonial-era Philadelphia.

@Diamondback_Six said:
" @PurpleDave said:
"Then there are townhouses like you find in densely populated urban centers, where there's no space between the individual buildings, but each residence is a distinct building. My condo has a staggered-stud shared wall on either side (my wall has 2x4 studs on 16" centers, and my neighbors' walls also have studs on 16" centers, but their studs are located midway between mine, and air-gapped from my drywall so they don't transmit sound as easily). But this style would likely have two solid brick walls butted up against each other, since they might not have been built at the same time."

There's also the Row House, where because houses in some places were taxed by their wall sizes it was less costly to just scab your house onto your neighbor', build three walls and use theirs to get the fourth free.

This practice was common in Colonial-era Philadelphia."

That's the second type that I described, though I didn't mention that term. This form would also make it more affordable when you're taxed by the size of the plot of land used, as you can buy a dinky parcel of land, build all the way to the edges, and simply go vertical for the square footage of your home.

Straying away from the "town house" name, there's even weirder tax evasion techniques. Somewhere in Europe, possibly in Scandinavia, I've read about one nation where you're taxed on the frontage only. The wider the front of your building is, the more property tax you pay. So residences will often be reduced to just the width necessary to fit a front door, and one or both neighbors (being retail shops) will gladly eat up the unused frontage for display windows. The stores pay the extra property tax, and in return get to show off significantly more of their wares.

@PurpleDave said:
" @stefwaffles said:
" @PurpleDave said:
" @MCLegoboy said:
"Aren't town houses supposed to be wall to wall, not roof to roof?"

It's...complicated."
Seeing as this is the US version of 376 House with Garden, is it perhaps more likely that the (surely majority back then) Dutch designers built something familiar to them, and then marketing people tried to find a more palatable name for the US market?"

That depends on what you consider to be the US market. …. If the name was picked to appeal to the US market, it was done so by someone who really doesn't know the US market at all."

Well first of all, the set is Town House, not townhouse. I suspect you’re using a fairly specific US term whereas someone else intended a house for a town.

Plus the images aren’t necessarily helping here, but you’re seeing the set opened out - those two halves are meant to be closed when not in play. This isn’t two buildings with touching roofs, but two halves of one building.

@stefwaffles said:
"Well first of all, the set is Town House, not townhouse. I suspect you’re using a fairly specific US term whereas someone else intended a house for a town."

The fact remains that we would never refer to this as a "town house" in the US, so giving it that name for the US market seems questionable. In the US, it was standard for the vast majority to only have one residence, up until the creation of the middle class. In Michigan, the primary residence would simply be the "house", while the secondary residence might be referred to as the "cabin", or simply "up north".

Where the British usage seems to have originated with wealthy landowners in the country maintaining a secondary residence in the city, the opposite was the case in the US. It was city dwellers who obtained secondary residences, often in an area that would be better described as wilderness than country.

"Plus the images aren’t necessarily helping here, but you’re seeing the set opened out - those two halves are meant to be closed when not in play. This isn’t two buildings with touching roofs, but two halves of one building."

That did get mentioned in the comments, yes. The result would probably be more likely described as a bungalow in the US, though, not a townhouse. And nothing gets referred to here as a "town house".

@Minifig_Jez said:
" @PurpleDave said:
" @TheOtherMike said:
" @Maxbricks14 said:
"Such a charming little set."

Charming, yes, but those awnings are the worse kind of STAMP. If you take the set completely apart, the slope bricks that they're on won't be held together by anything but the sticker! (I looked the instructions up on Peeron.)"

They are, but that's not what makes them the worst kind. The lower edge of the awning hangs below the edge of the slope brick, but is probably still coated in adhesive. This is going to attract dust and dirt, and the simple fact that the edge extends beyond the brick means it's going to catch on stuff and pull loose. There's not much surface to adhere to on the toe of a slope brick to begin with, but that pretty much ensures that these are going to pop loose of the front edge at some point."

BOTH very good point, but the awnings are still the best part of the set !"

While they last, anyway.