Architectural Designs

What types of houses are popular in Manhattan?

I'm writing a story and a scene takes place in a Manhattan townhouse. What kinds of architectural designs are present in Manhattan? Are brownstones common, or are they referred to as something else? I guess I just need to know if townhouses or duplexes have a different name in that part of the city.

Public Comments

1. Brownstones aren't common in Manhattan, although there are quite a few of them elsewhere in the city, particularly in Brooklyn. In Manhattan, almost everyone lives in some sort of apartment building, ranging from old four-floor walkups (no elevator) to luxury high-rise apartments. There are also many "projects", some run by the city that are for low-income families and others that are run by semi-private organizations and that cater to middle-income families. Most of the projects are brick apartment buildings, about a dozen floors high. A few people live in "loft" buildings--converted former industrial buildings that were made into large apartments. There aren't many townhouses in Manhattan, beyond some in Greenwich Village and some in uppper Manhattan.
2. Well, first of all, real estate terms are different in different places, so, for example, in New York City a "duplex" is an apartment on two floors, usually created by buying two apartments above and below each other and building an inside staircase. In most of the rest of the country, however, a "duplex" is two attached, but separate, houses side by side. A "townhouse" is different in New York City, too. Here, it's a whole, small, building that might ordinarily be a very small apartment building, but in this case it's occupied by one owner/family, and the word townhouse refers to the fact that, while they might have a big house out in the country, this is their "town house" that they stay in when they're in town, get it? Good luck, and the 1st link below is to several webpages of pix of New York City apartment buildings, and the second link is to a Google Street View of New York City that is like taking a virtual walk around NY. Just wait for the page to load, and then click the arrows in the picture to move down the block and click and drag your mouse inside the picture to change your view and you can take a good look at Manhattan right on your monitor! Cool, huh?