A Trinity house, also known as a Father, Son & Holy Ghost house, is a small

townhouse A townhouse, townhome, town house, or town home, is a type of terraced housing. A modern townhouse is often one with a small footprint on multiple floors. In a different British usage, the term originally referred to any type of city residence ...

, principally found in

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; (Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, Ma ...

. Trinity houses are characterized by small size, with three or four floors vertically stacked, each usually consisting of one principal room, many of which were built in the 18th and 19th centuries. They are joined by small, winding stairways, and have few or no interior doors. The "Trinity" name is derived from three floors, three rooms. Kitchens are usually in the basement, with very low headroom. Houses are typically smaller than , and about wide. The selection of furnishings for such houses is strictly limited by the difficulty of moving furniture between floors. Trinity houses were typically located on alleys behind main streets, to be found in Philadelphia's deep blocks. A notable concentration of trinity houses is on

Elfreth's Alley Elfreth's Alley is a historic street in Philadelphia, dating back to 1703. There are 32 houses on the street which were built between 1703 and 1836. The Elfreth's Alley Museum is located at #124 and 126.Historical marker on Elfreth's Alley The ...

, a

National Historic Landmark A National Historic Landmark (NHL) is a building, district, object, site, or structure that is officially recognized by the United States government for its outstanding historical significance. Only some 2,500 (~3%) of over 90,000 places listed ...

district. Due to their size and the inconvenience of their arrangements and their survival in affluent neighborhoods, trinity houses are often far more affordable than other houses in the same neighborhood. The houses have enjoyed a revival in interest as a by-product of the

tiny-house movement The tiny-house movement (also known as the small house movement) is an architectural and social movement that advocates for downsizing living spaces, simplifying, and essentially "living with less."Ford, Jasmine, and Lilia Gomz-Lanier. Family an ...

References

{{reflist

External links

Trinity Houses at ''Atlas Obscura''
Houses in Philadelphia House types