The word single describes the building's configuration within the broader shotgun-house family. It means one shotgun dwelling rather than two adjoining units, but it does not by itself tell you how many bedrooms the house has, how it is used today or how the interior has been changed over time.
Written by Ryan Roberts
Ryan Roberts is a New Orleans real estate agent focused on shotgun homes and historic residential property.
What makes a shotgun house a single shotgun?
A shotgun house is classified as a single shotgun when the building contains one shotgun dwelling rather than two adjoining shotgun units.
The National Park Service describes the basic single shotgun as traditionally one story, one room wide and at least two rooms deep. The roof ridge typically runs perpendicular to the front façade, allowing the narrow building to extend backward from the street.
The word single therefore does not simply mean that the house looks small. It distinguishes one shotgun unit from forms that modify or duplicate that original configuration.
- —One shotgun dwelling
- —One narrow street-facing section
- —One room of width across much of the traditional plan
- —Multiple rooms extending toward the rear
- —Traditionally one story
A double shotgun house places two shotgun units next to one another. A camelback modifies the form vertically by adding a partial second story toward the rear. A sidehall changes the circulation by adding a hallway along one side.
The single is the simplest version from which those other forms can be understood.
How is a single shotgun house laid out?
A traditional single-shotgun floor plan arranges one narrow sequence of rooms from the front of the house toward the rear, usually without a central hallway.
The exact number and purpose of the rooms varies. A single shotgun does not have to contain a particular number of bedrooms or follow one universal room arrangement.
What matters is the underlying relationship: one narrow dwelling extending from front to rear.
The traditional single follows one narrow room sequence from the street-facing front toward the back yard.
Historic documentation for urban shotgun houses also describes door openings that often align through successive rooms. That arrangement allowed someone to move through one room to reach the next rather than using a separate circulation hall.
This room-to-room movement is one of the most recognizable features of the traditional shotgun form, but it is especially important in a single because there is only one narrow interior sequence to work with.
A traditional floor plan might have required someone to pass through a bedroom to reach another part of the house. Modern renovations often change that relationship considerably.
What does a single shotgun house look like from the street?
A traditional single shotgun presents the narrow end of one dwelling toward the street, creating a relatively narrow façade compared with a double shotgun.
Many historic New Orleans singles use a simple two-bay façade with a front door and a window beside it. The long side walls then extend away from the street toward the rear of the lot.
- —A narrow street-facing façade
- —One primary front entrance
- —A window positioned beside the entrance on many historic examples
- —A porch or gallery depending on the period and style
- —A roof whose ridge runs toward the rear of the lot
- —A building that is noticeably deeper than it is wide
These are clues rather than absolute rules. A shotgun's building type and its architectural style are separate characteristics.
The City of New Orleans Historic District Landmarks Commission treats Shotgun as a building type while separately classifying architectural styles such as Greek Revival, Italianate, Eastlake and Arts and Crafts. A single shotgun can therefore have decorative brackets, columns, millwork or other stylistic features without those details changing the underlying building type.
Later alterations can make identification more difficult too. Doors may have moved, windows may have changed, porches may have been enclosed and rear additions may have substantially increased the size of the original house.
What is the difference between a single and double shotgun?
A single shotgun contains one shotgun dwelling, while a double shotgun places two shotgun units side by side within one larger building.
The biggest difference is therefore not simply the overall width. It is the number of shotgun units.
| Feature | Single shotgun | Double shotgun | Camelback shotgun | Sidehall shotgun |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Basic configuration | One shotgun dwelling | Two shotgun units side by side | Shotgun with partial rear second story | Narrow shotgun with side hallway |
| Traditional width | One room wide | Two parallel units | Usually based on shotgun footprint | Narrow form |
| Traditional stories | Usually one | Usually one | Partial second story at rear | Varies |
| Circulation | Room to room | Room to room within each unit | Shotgun plan plus upper rear rooms | Hall along one side |
| Main distinction | One unit | Two units | Added rear story | Added hallway |
A single has one shotgun dwelling. A traditional double combines two. A camelback changes a different attribute by adding vertical space toward the rear, while a sidehall changes the circulation by introducing a hall along one side.
Those names make more sense when each one is treated as a modification of the basic single form rather than as an unrelated architectural style.
Does “single shotgun” mean the house is single-family?
Not necessarily. Single shotgun describes an architectural building configuration, while single-family describes how a property is currently classified or used.
Those are different questions. “Is this a single shotgun?” asks what physical type of shotgun building the property is. “Is this a single-family property?” asks how the property is legally or currently used.
The architectural term alone cannot answer the second question.
A historic building may clearly have the proportions and physical characteristics of a single shotgun while its current interior layout, permitted use or property history reflects later changes.
This distinction becomes particularly important in New Orleans because houses have been altered repeatedly over long periods of time. Walls move, additions are built, rooms change purpose, kitchens and bathrooms are relocated and properties may have use histories that are not obvious from the façade.
The historical building type is therefore one piece of information about a property, not a substitute for understanding its current condition and permitted use.
Does a single shotgun house have to have no hallway?
No. A traditional single shotgun generally uses room-to-room circulation without a central hallway, but renovated single shotguns can contain added hallways or substantially reorganized interiors.
The lack of a hallway helps describe the historic form. It is not a requirement that every surviving shotgun must continue to meet.
Imagine a traditional single with four rooms arranged one behind another. Reaching the third room may require walking through the second. A renovation might introduce a hallway beside those rooms so bedrooms can be entered independently. Another renovation might open several smaller rooms into one larger living area.
The property can still retain the physical footprint and historical identity of a single shotgun even when the internal circulation no longer follows the original plan.
That distinction is useful because building type and current floor plan are not necessarily the same thing.
How are single shotgun houses adapted for modern living?
Renovations to single shotguns commonly change circulation and room use while retaining the building's narrow underlying form.
The Preservation Resource Center of New Orleans has documented renovated singles where walls were opened and relatively modest additions dramatically changed how the interior functioned without erasing the historic building's basic character.
Common adaptations include opening walls between adjoining rooms, creating more direct bedroom access, relocating kitchens, adding bathrooms and expanding the rear of the house.
Traditional room-to-room movement can be reorganized into a more independent modern layout; the diagram represents the original sequence before renovation.
A renovated plan might change from a front room, bedroom, bedroom and kitchen to something closer to a living area, hallway with bedrooms, kitchen and rear addition.
The building remains long and narrow, but the experience of living in it changes considerably. Rear additions are particularly useful because they can increase usable space without requiring the original street-facing portion of the house to become wider.
Some renovations also add vertical space. If a partial second story rises above the rear portion of the building, the house may instead be described as a camelback shotgun, depending on its form and history.
This is why the current square footage of a property does not necessarily tell you what the original shotgun looked like. An apparently spacious single may contain a much smaller historic core with substantial later additions.
How does the single shotgun fit into New Orleans architecture?
The single shotgun is the basic form within the wider family of shotgun building types found throughout New Orleans.
The Preservation Resource Center describes the single as the simplest form of the shotgun. Historic district documentation likewise uses it as the base configuration before distinguishing related forms such as doubles and camelbacks.
That makes the single useful for understanding the entire taxonomy. Start with one narrow shotgun dwelling, then modify an attribute.
The single is the reference form: other shotgun types change one or more attributes while remaining related to the same building-type family.
Place two beside one another and the result is a double shotgun. Add a partial rear second story and the result may be a camelback. Add a side circulation hall and the result may be a sidehall shotgun.
New Orleans also contains singles from different periods with different decorative treatments. One house may have relatively restrained details while another carries elaborate brackets, columns or other stylistic elements. Those differences change the appearance, but not necessarily the underlying building type.
The single shotgun is therefore best understood first through its form and configuration, then through its age, architectural style and individual property history.
Why does the single-shotgun layout matter when buying one?
The single-shotgun layout matters to a buyer because one narrow sequence of rooms can affect circulation, bedroom privacy, storage and how later renovations function.
Two houses described accurately as single shotguns can live very differently. An intact traditional plan might require movement directly through rooms. That can be charming in a living or entertaining space but less practical when one room functions as a private bedroom.
A renovated single may solve that issue with a hallway, an opened living area or a rear addition. But those changes create their own questions.
- —How people move from the front of the house to the rear
- —Whether bedrooms can be accessed privately
- —Where bathrooms are positioned
- —Whether the kitchen remains at the rear
- —Whether an addition changes the original footprint
- —Which walls and rooms appear to belong to the historic structure
- —How previous renovations affect the way the home functions today
Those characteristics matter more than simply knowing that a listing describes the property as a shotgun.
The broader buyer due-diligence checklist covers the additional property-level questions, including renovation history, inspections, additions and current use.
For the architectural definition itself, the important distinction is simpler: a single means one shotgun dwelling, even though the way that dwelling lives today may be substantially different from its historic plan.
The key difference to remember
A single shotgun house is the basic one-unit version of the shotgun building type.
Traditionally, it is one shotgun dwelling, one story, one room wide, several rooms deep and arranged from front to rear.
A double changes the number of parallel units. A camelback changes the vertical form. A sidehall changes the circulation.
Renovations may change the interior considerably, but those later alterations do not automatically erase the building's original architectural form.
So when someone calls a New Orleans house a single shotgun, the word “single” is telling you something specific: you are looking at one shotgun dwelling rather than a paired shotgun configuration.
The historic configuration gives the starting point; renovations, current use, condition and documentation complete the picture.
Key takeaways
- 01A single shotgun contains one shotgun dwelling rather than two adjoining units.
- 02The traditional form is narrow, generally one story, one room wide and organized in a front-to-rear sequence.
- 03Building type, current floor plan and single-family legal or current use are separate questions.
- 04Doubles, camelbacks and sidehalls can be understood as modifications of the basic single form.
- 05For a buyer, circulation, privacy, additions, renovation history and current use matter more than the label alone.
References
- 01Single shotgun documentation
National Park Service, National Register documentation
- 02New Orleans vernacular architecture
Preservation Resource Center of New Orleans
- 03The geography of the shotgun house
Preservation Resource Center of New Orleans
- 04The shotgun house explained
Shotgun Homes New Orleans
- 05What is a double shotgun house?
Shotgun Homes New Orleans
- 06The buyer's checks on a single shotgun
Shotgun Homes New Orleans
- 07Current shotgun price evidence
Shotgun Homes New Orleans
My methodology
Open each item to see the scope, definitions and limits behind the article.
Terminology+
This article uses single shotgun to describe one shotgun dwelling within a building. It keeps that architectural term separate from single-family, which describes current legal classification or use rather than the historic building configuration.
Form and circulation+
The definition emphasizes the traditional relationship among narrow width, front-to-rear depth, one-story form and room-to-room circulation. These are treated as characteristics of the historic prototype, not requirements that every surviving property still meet exactly.
Historic form and current property+
The article separates the original shotgun core from later hallways, opened rooms, rear additions, relocated kitchens, bathrooms and other renovations. A current floor plan or property use cannot be inferred from the historic label alone.
Scope+
This is an explanatory article about the single shotgun building type and its New Orleans context, not a structural inspection, historic designation opinion, appraisal or legal determination about an individual property.