Types

log houses

Distinguished from "log cabins" by being generally larger and better built of carefully hewn timbers neatly notched at the corners.

loggias

Covered, roomlike spaces, open to the outdoors usually through arcades or colonnades; may be contained within or adjacent to buildings.

longhouses (multiple dwellings)

Large, rectangular, multifamily dwellings housing related families in separate compartments entered off long corridors; equipped with individual or communal hearths.

lookouts

Short wood framing members nailed to the sides of joists or rafters to extend a roof or floor beyond an exterior wall line.

lost villages

Settlements of relatively small size for which precise locations are no longer known.

lots (land)

Parcels of land with fixed boundaries occupied or capable of being occupied by one building or use, including accessory buildings, and not divided by any public highway or alley. Distinguished from "plats (land)," because plats tend to be somewhat larger than lots and are often in the countryside, while lots are typically smaller and located within a settlement.

lounges (sitting rooms)

Informal sitting rooms, as in hotels, theaters, airports, and institutional buildings.

low cost housing

Housing whose ultimate cost to the occupant is low, generally due to assistance from government subsidies. Distinguished from "low income housing," which refers to the mandated low income of the occupants rather than the low cost of the units.

low income housing

Housing units available to occupants whose income does not exceed certain maximum income limits set by local housing authorities. Distinguished from "low cost housing," which refers to the subsidized low rent of the units rather than the low income of the occupants.

low-rise buildings

Buildings of five stories or fewer accessible by stairs only; commonly applied to apartment houses and some commercial buildings.

lozenges

Figures that are squares or rhombuses rotated to have their corners on the horizontal and vertical axes. Common as an isolated motif, in a diaper pattern, or in a running series.

lumber camps

Groups of houses or tents and associated facilities designed as a residence for loggers who are temporarily in a forest to cut down and transport timber.

lumber sheds

Structures or other shelters designed or used for the storage, drying, or curing of lumber.

lumberyards (buildings or lots)

Lots or buildings used for storage, cutting, and sale of lumber and wood-related products, particularly lumber used in construction and home improvement.

luncheonettes

Small restaurants or snack bars serving light daytime meals or snacks that are ready to serve or quickly prepared.

lunchrooms

Rooms provided for eating meals, particularly at a work place, school, or other such establishment where many people spend the day away from home; the the food is often brought from elsewhere, but prepared food may also be offered for sale.

lyceums (buildings)

Buildings, usually having lecture rooms, class rooms, and a library, and housing specialized institutions typically devoted to the instruction of adults.

machine shops

Places where metal and other substances are cut and shaped by machine tools.

machinery sheds

Structures used to give partial or total protection from the weather to any sort of machinery, typically characterized by having a roof and as much space as possible between the interior posts or walls, without being too deep so that each machine can be taken out easily.

madrasas (buildings)

Buildings that house Islamic theological or law schools, especially when associated with a mosque, or generally for places of study.

magazines (military buildings)

Designates storage buildings for explosives and ammunition.

mahals (palaces)

Palaces in India, especially those of the Islamic period.

main streets

Use only for principal thoroughfares, usually those along which are found the primary mercantile establishments, of small to mid-size settlements.

manor houses

Mansions belonging to, or used by, the lord of a manor.

manors (agricultural complexes)

Landed estates administered as units and consisting of the main residence (manor house), demesnes, and the land over which the lord has privileges.

mansard roofs

Curb roofs with all four sides sloping, usually enclosing habitable spaces, and therefore having dormers.

manses

Residences provided for clergymen, chiefly in Scotland; formerly also included the land and outbuildings surrounding the residence.

mansions

Large imposing, and usually elegant and costly, dwellings.

manufacturing centers

Communities of any size that have manufacturing as a major industry.

marinas (water transportation complexes)

Secure mooring facilities primarily for yachts and other recreational small craft.

marine aquariums (buildings)

Aquariums focusing on life in saltwater, especially ocean environments.

marine parks

Tracts set aside for recreation and located on land in contact with the sea, in submerged areas, along sea beds, or on emerged land areas near the sea coast.

marine railways

No description is available for this term.

marine sites

Sites located under bodies of salt water, particularly in oceans or seas.

marine structures

Structures built in relation to water in general, especially seaward of the high-water line of the major water bodies (oceans, seas, bays); use "offshore structures" for construction built on continental shelves.

marine terminals

Complexes providing facilities to accommodate the movement of cargo or passengers among ships or between ships and shore.

maritime museums (buildings)

Buildings housing museums dealing with the sea in general, navigation, or shipping, as distinct from "naval museums," which deal with navies, warships, or ships in general.

markers (monuments)

Monuments that serve as guides to direction, position, or route, or that mark a boundary or limit.

market gardens

Gardens, often extensive, where vegetables are grown for market.

market halls

Relatively large structures designed or built to house a market, often either under a single large roof or positioned between and around a colonnade in open air.

market houses

Refers to structures designed or used specifically to house markets; the term is usually reserved for relatively small, traditional structures in the historical center of a town or city.

market towns

Communities of relatively small size that hold a market, typically agricultural centers in a rural area. Market towns typically developed as a location to trade farm products, sometimes near fortified places.

marketplaces

Widened streets, neighborhood or town squares, or other mostly open public spaces where booths and stalls may be erected for public sales.

markets (structures)

Buildings or outdoor areas where trade is conducted, often optimized for a gathering together of people for the purchase and sale produce and livestock. Markets typically have booths or stalls for individual merchants, either in open air or under a single large roof.

marshes

Low lying, treeless wetlands, typically overgrown with grasses, cattails, and rushes.

martello towers

Low, circular defensive towers used, especially since the Napoleanic wars, for coastal protection; derived in name and form from the traditional Mediterranean watchtowers found on Cape Martella, Corsica.

masonic buildings

Buildings in which (prior to the 17th century) skilled stone masons or (since the early 17th century) members of the societies of Freemasons gathered, whether socially or professionally.

master bedrooms

Refers to the principal bedrooms in dwellings, usually the largest and intended for the person or persons who head the household; used especially in American contexts since the 1920s.

maternity hospitals

Hospitals designed or used for the care of women immediately before, during, and after childbirth and for the care of newborn babies.

math buildings

No description is available for this term.

mausoleums

Edifices erected as commemorative burial places, often but not exclusively limited to large, stately, or imposing edifices for or by a person of distinction. The word is derived from the burial place of Mausolus, ruler of Caria, in whose memory his widow Artemisia raised a splendid tomb at Halicarnassus (ca. 350 BCE).

maximum-security prisons

Buildings that house prisons having the highest level of security for dangerous inmates or those likely to escape.

maze gardens

Gardens focused on a labyrinthine design having many intricate turnings and windings that are defined by flowers, hedges, or other plants.

meadows

Large open tracts of grassland, sometimes used for pasture.

mechanical clocks

Clocks whose recurring motion depends on mechanical, as opposed to electronic, devices, such as escapements, the swing of a pendulum, or the oscillation of a balance wheel and spring.

medallions (ornament areas)

Round or oval enframements, usually containing figures or ornamental motifs. Primarily found in two-dimensional media, such as textiles, stained glass, and manuscript illuminations; for circular decorated panels in architectural contexts, use "roundels."

media centers (buildings)

Buildings or spaces housing educational facilities that provide nonprint media, such as audio-visual materials and online computer resources, in public schools or elsewhere.

medical centers

General term for a building or group of buildings where medical facilities are centered.

medical research building

No description is available for this term.

medical schools (buildings)

Buildings that house graduate schools of a college or university in which medicine is taught.

medium-security prisons

Buildings that house prisons where the security level is less than maximum security; the inmates may sleep in dormitories and have other communal facilities, with generally less supervision over the internal movements than in a maximum-security prison.

meeting houses (religious buildings)

Buildings of assembly for Christian religious worship, typically not of ecclesiastical architecture, and especially in reference of meetings of Nonconformists.

meeting space

No description is available for this term.

megalithic monuments

Refers to prehistoric or very ancient monuments built of unusually large stones have been only very roughly worked or left as found.

megastructures

Very large, multipurpose, adaptable structures housing all or most of the functions of a city. For less comprehensive and dominating structures, use "multipurpose buildings."

memorial arches

Large structures having a prominent central arch and built to commemorate events or persons; if erected to honor military victories, use "triumphal arches."

memorial columns

Refers to freestanding structures having approximately the form of columns, with capital, shaft, and base, but without a full superstructure and erected as memorials.

memorial parks

Cemeteries that are designed as a park, in which upright memorials are not used, as originally intended by Hubert Eaton (1881-1966), the coiner of the term. They are generally characterized by open expanses of turf with either flush or other regulated gravemarkers. In the last half of the 19th century, those with flush markers were called "lawn" cemeteries.

memorials (monuments)

Monuments or structures built to preserve the memory of beings or events. For other objects created, issued, or worn to commemorate persons or events, use "commemoratives."

mental health facilities

Buildings, other structures, and complexes of structures whose primary function is mental health care.

mercantile buildings

Buildings designed or used by those who are engaged in trade or commerce, specifically professionals involved in the exchange of goods for profit.

mesas (landforms)

Relatively small, usually isolated, masses of land with level or nearly level tops, standing distinctly above the surrounding countryside, and having steep erosion scarps on all sides; smaller than plateaus, and larger than buttes.

mess halls

Areas on military bases that serve chiefly as dining halls, rooms or separate buildings.

meteorological stations

Facilities having instruments and equipment used to make observations of atmospheric conditions in order to study and predict weather.

metropolitan areas

Settlement areas encompassing a central city and surrounding municipal or political jurisdictions.

mews

Urban stables with living accommodations above grouped around a courtyard or small street for use by carriage horses; may also be used by extension in modern contexts for the alleyways such stables front upon when the stables have been converted into apartments.

mezzanines

Low-ceilinged spaces between two stories with higher ceilings, or for balconylike stories over a part of the story below, the lower story usually, but not necessarily, being the first story.

microbreweries

Breweries that produce a limited amount of high quality beer annually, and typically selling their products on the premises.

mid-rise buildings

Buildings having between four or five and nine or ten stories and equipped with elevators; generally applied to commercial buildings and apartment houses.

middens (dumps)

Archaeological or anthropological contexts for accumulations of refuse associated with human occupation. These accumulations may include discarded artifacts and food remains such as bones and shells. They are often used as valuable sources of archaelogical data.

middle schools (buildings)

Buildings that house schools representing the second stage of a three-tier educational system, falling intermediate between an elementary school and an upper, senior, or high school, differing by school district in grades included.

midways

In the context of amusement parks, exhibitions, fairs, etc., the central avenues along which the chief exhibits or amusements are placed. In the context of amusement parks, exhibitions, fairs, etc., the central avenues along which the chief exhibits or amusements are placed.

milestones

Stones, slabs, or pillars of any material, set by the side of a road to mark distances between one point and another; most often distances between cities. The term "milestones" does not necessarily refer only to the unit of measurement called a "mile"; it may be used to describe objects that denote measures of the kilometer or other units.

military academies (buildings)

Buildings that house schools that train people for careers in the armed forces and for private schools organized following the discipline and dress codes of military life; both offer courses in military training and both are generally at university level with degree-granting programs.

military academies (institutions)

Educational institutions that train people for careers in the armed forces and for private schools organized following the discipline and dress codes of military life; both offer courses in military training and both are generally at university level with degree-granting programs.

military bases

Use generally in contemporary contexts for permanent centers of operations; use "military camps" for contemporary nonpermanent posts. Use generally in contemporary contexts for permanent centers of operations; use "military camps" for contemporary nonpermanent posts.

military buildings

Structures built and used by military forces.

military camps

In contemporary military contexts this refers to groups of huts, tents, or other shelters set up temporarily for troops. In historical contexts the term connotes permanent or semipermanent places of encampment. Use "military bases" for contemporary permanent installations. In contemporary military contexts this refers to groups of huts, tents, or other shelters set up temporarily for troops. In historical contexts the term connotes permanent or semipermanent places of encampment. Use "military bases" for contemporary permanent installations.

military cemeteries (veteran cemeteries)

Refers to burial grounds established for war casualties, veterans, and eligible dependents.

military hospitals

Hospitals reserved for the treatment of active military personnel, including soldiers and their dependents.

military housing

Housing designed or used by military personnel.

military installations

Areas reserved for the training and rapid deployment of military forces.

military museums (buildings)

Buildings housing museums that primarily house weapons, armor, uniforms, ammunition, documents, maps, photographs, and other records and artifacts of military forces, leaders, wars, and battles.

military parks

General term for parks that preserve areas associated with military history.

military prisons (buildings)

Buildings housing institutions tasked to hold and detain members of the armed forces, in the U.S. particularly who have been convicted of violations of the Uniform Code of Military Justice.

military roads

Roads constructed by or reserved primarily for the transport of military personnel, equipment, and vehicles.

military towns

Settlements whose primary concern is military; may also be used for settlements upon which military considerations have had a considerable formal or economic influence.

military training buildings

Military structures used for the purposes of training.

military training camps

Facilities specializing in the training of military personnel, typically including training in the use of weapons, discipline, endurance, and survival training.

milk houses

Subsidiary agricultural buildings for cooling, handling, and processing milk. For agricultural buildings for the making and storing of dairy products in general, use "dairies (non-mechanized)" or "dairy plants."