Types

gargoyles

Waterspouts carved into grotesque figures and projecting from the roof gutters of buildings.

garrison houses

Houses whose second story projects beyond the first story, usually on the facade.

gas wells

Wells tapping a supply of natural gas.

gas-turbine power plants

Power plants in which gas is burned, with compressed air or oil, to run steam-driven turbines that produce electrical energy.

gasholders

Use to describe large cylindrical or spherical tanks containing gas used for fuel.

gasworks

Plants where heating and illuminating gas are manufactured.

gate structures

General term used to group types of gates or gateways.

gated communities

Discrete housing complexes closed off to nonresidents by gates and fences or walls; may or may not also have guards or other surveillance and security installations.

gatehouses

Structures at, near, or over entrance gateways, usually containing a gatekeeper's dwelling. For subordinate buildings on the grounds of estates or parks used as the dwellings of employees, such as gatekeepers, but not located at entranceways, prefer "lodges (caretakers' houses)."

gates

Swinging or sliding barriers used to fill or close a gateway between two spaces or placed within a wall or fencing, often exterior and often made of a grating or open framework or forming a heavy or rough structure. For barriers of more solid and finished construction and usually leading to interior spaces, use "doors."

gateways

Passages through fences or walls separating two exterior spaces, or the structures or ornamental constructions enclosing such passages.

gazebos

Small structures, usually roofed and open-sided, located in gardens or parks from which one may gaze out over the surrounding grounds.

general hospitals

Hospitals that are not restricted to patients suffering from one particular class of disease or to those of a particular sex or age-group.

general stores

Retail stores, usually in small or rural communities, that sell a wide variety of merchandise, including food, but are not divided into departments.

genkan

Entrance halls or porches through which one enters a Japanese building and is greeted by the host, removes one's shoes, etc. Historically, this term referred only to alcoves found in Zen temple buildings, but now the term is used to refer to any entry alcove. These areas are often decorated with screen paintings.

geodesic domes

Structures consisting of numerous similar, light, straight-line elements (usually in tension) which form a grid in the shape of a dome.

geometric gardens

Formal gardens that employ a geometric design.

ghost towns

Designates once-flourishing settlements recently abandoned primarily due to dramatic economic decline or exhaustion of local natural resources; generally the buildings remain standing but in a state of deterioration.

girder bridges

Bridges whose superstructure consists primarily of girders.

glaciers (bodies of water)

Very large bodies of ice moving slowly down a slope or valley or spreading outward on a land surface.

glassmaking studios (organizations)

Studios in which one or more master glassmakers create works, supervise assistants, and instruct pupils.

glens

Small, narrow, and often secluded valleys usually with steep sides and flat bottoms; originally restricted to the mountainous areas of Scotland and Ireland.

gold mines

Mines from which gold is obtained.

golden section

Canon of proportion based on the ratio between two unequal parts of a whole when the proportion of the smaller to the larger is equal to that of the larger to the whole.

golf clubs (built complexes)

Recreation complexes where golf is played, comprising golf courses, clubhouses, and associated facilities and often restricting use to members.

golf course communities

Designates residential communities designed around golf courses.

golf courses

Outdoor area where the sport of golf is played, consisting of a teeing ground, fairway, rough, hazards, and a series of greens containing the 18 holes into which the ball is hit sequentially.

gondola cars

Open freight cars, commonly with low sides, for transporting bulk goods, as coal or steel, not requiring weather protection.

gopuras

Monumental barrel-roofed temple gateways or gate towers of South Indian temples or temple enclosures. These evolved from the form of vimanas, but with a passageway incorporated through the center of the structure. gateway, with śālā (Valabhī) type of superstructure; gate-house (Dravidian and early Indian in general)

gorges (landforms)

Deep, rocky land depressions with steep sides, larger than ravines, with a river or stream at the bottom; distinct from "canyons," which tend to be larger and less rocky.

government office buildings

Designates buildings with office space for various departments or branches of government as well as space for public access to government officials.

grain elevators

Buildings comprising large, deep, and narrow storage bins and mechanical conveying systems for the receiving, weighing, storing, and discharging of large quantities of grain.

granaries

Storehouses or other repositories for grain, especially after it has been threshed or husked; sometimes also used to store corn.

grand hotels

Large, luxurious, and well-equipped hotels featuring distinguished architecture, which are designed to present travelers with an experience reminiscent of the ambiance of life in European palaces. Usage is generally restricted to buildings erected from the mid-19th to early 20th century.

grandstands

Structures, often with roofs and tiered platforms, for spectators to sit or stand on while viewing sporting events or other spectacles or performances.

granges (fraternal buildings)

Designates local meeting places for members of the Order of Patrons of Husbandry, known as the Grange.

grasslands

Areas dominated by grasses rather than large shrubs or trees. One of the earth's six major biomes.

gravel pits

Excavations from which gravel or sand is or has been obtained, particularly excavations where the holes have been dug vertically into the surface.

graves

Excavations in the earth used for burial of a deceased human, sometimes of animals; for constructions raised over or around burial sites, use "tombs."

graveyards

Common grounds for the interment of bodies, particularly relatively small grounds belonging to a church or small community.

gravity dams

Dams that resist water pressure by their own weight.

Great Houses (Amerindian complexes)

Large, multistory, multiroom complex dwellings of the Ancestral Puebloan and Hohokam periods, mostly dating from 950 to 1150 CE; distinguished from "pueblos (housing complexes)" by their often D-shaped outline, cohesive planned design, and location in the San Juan Basin, New Mexico, and parts of Arizona.

greenbelts

Permanently reserved zones of land around and between cities.

greenhouses

Structures enclosed by glass and devoted to the cultivation and protection of plants out of season, usually free-standing but may be attached to another building. Greenhouses may be small or very large. For rooms attached to houses and used as sun lounges or for growing indoor plants, prefer "conservatories."

greens (open spaces)

Grassy, public open spaces near the center of a town and used for a variety of community functions, found especially in New England and Mid-Atlantic states.

greenswards

Landscaping section comprising turf on which grass is growing.

greenways

Ribbons of protected lands and waters, primarily within or near cities, established to provide the public with access to open spaces that mitigate the hard edges and overdeveloped landscapes of urban areas.

grocery stores

Stores that sell food and some nonedible household goods.

groins (erosion protection works)

Long, narrow, permeable or impermeable protective structures built out from a seashore to check or increase erosion. For similar structures located along a river or stream bank, use "wing dams"; when such structures are built to control shoaling, use "jetties (erosion protection works)."

grottoes

Refers to artificially constructed garden features, common since the 16th century in French and English landscapes. A grotto is characterized by being an excavation or structure made to imitate a rocky cave, often adorned with shell-work, colorful stones, etc., and serving as a place of recreation or a cool retreat. For natural features, use "caves" or "caverns."

grounds (open spaces)

Delimited portions of land, usually as lawn, plantings, or left natural surrounding and belonging to a house or other building. Grounds serve chiefly for ornament or recreation. Grounds may be enclosed; they may include gardens.

group dwellings

Relatively small dwellings containing two or more living units for people not of the same family or household, where each dwelling does not necessarily have a full range of residential facilities so that residents must share certain common areas, such as a kitchen, bathroom, and sitting room. Examples include dwellings used as temporary transitional residences. Distinguished from larger "multiple dwellings," which contain relatively complete residential units for multiple households within a single building or complex that has a smaller number of common areas, such as a laundry room.

group homes

Residential dwellings that are single housekeeping units, provide care for small groups of unrelated residents requiring supervision, and are intended to reproduce the circumstances of family life; for temporary residences of former convicts, drug users, or mental patients awaiting a return to society, use "halfway houses."

groves (plant communities)

Groups of trees, often of a single species, smaller than forests in extent, growing naturally or planted in formation, and generally with little or no undergrowth.

guardhouses

Buildings for the shelter or accommodation of military guards, sometimes in which prisoners are temporarily detained under guard.

guardrooms

Rooms for the accommodation of guards while on duty.

guest rooms

Rooms in dwellings set aside or otherwise intended for temporary use by guests and usually not regularly used by household members.

guesthouses (dwellings)

Separate residences for guests, particularly when on a private estate or monastery and maintained specifically for receiving visitors.

guided missile bases

Military bases for the storage and deployment of guided missiles, which are self-propelled projectiles used as weapons, including but not limited to long-range ballistic missiles.

guideposts

Posts, usually mounted on the roadside or at intersections, bearing a sign or signs for the guidance of travelers.

guildhalls

Buildings belonging to and for the assembly of members of crafts, trades, or merchants' guilds.

gulfs (bodies of water)

Large inlets of the sea, usually more enclosed and more deeply indented than bays.

gullies

Small, commonly V-shaped channels carved in the land by fluvial action and through which water flows only occasionally or seasonally.

gymnasiums

Buildings designed and equipped for indoor, or, in antiquity, indoor and outdoor, sports, exercise, or physical education and training and usually including changing rooms and bath or shower facilites; in ancient Greece, often combined with educational facilities; generally larger than "palaestrae."

haciendas

Large Spanish landed estates common to 17th century Seville used as farms, or ranches. Also applies to Spanish-American estates and the main building of such a complex.

halfway houses

Temporary residences of former convicts, drug users, or mental patients that serve as a transition environment between confinement and a return to society; for long-term residential environments, which reproduce the circumstances of family life for persons requiring continuing supervision due to special needs, use "group homes."

hall churches

Churches with side aisles as high or nearly as high as the nave; popular in Germany.

hall houses

Houses containing a large central space as the principal ground floor or upper floor living area; normally restricted to Great Britain where in early examples the halls were usually open to the roof, and in later examples the halls, similar in position and function, had ceilings. For the main residential buildings of farms or large estates, prefer "farmhouses" or "manor houses" when emphasizing the buildings' function.

halls (interior spaces)

In general refers to rooms large in proportion to rooms for domestic functions, circulation, or storage; may be used specifically for the principal rooms of a Medieval house and for large central rooms from the 19th century onward in certain English and American houses.

halls of fame

Buildings set aside to honor outstanding individuals as in a profession, locality, or nation.

hamlets

Small rural centers which contain basic community, education, and religious facilities and which generally do not exceed 250 residents; may also refer to the smallest incorporated units of a municipal government.

handball courts

Courts marked for playing American handball and that include at least one smooth wall.

hangars

Structures for the shelter, service, and repair of aircraft.

harbors

Well-sheltered inlets of water affording protection from wind and sea and sufficient depth to allow anchorage for vessels.

hardware stores

Originally referred to ironmongery shops, where tools made of iron were sold and often also made. Today the term refers to shops or stores that sell tools and other items and products needed for home maintenance and repair, such as hammers, saws, nails, plumbing supplies, paint, insecticides, etc.

haunted houses

Refers generally to houses seeming to be inhabited by ghosts or other apparitions.

haylofts

Upper-story storage spaces for hay in stables or barns.

headhouses

Parts of railroad passenger terminals providing accommodations for persons waiting for trains.

headstones (tombstones)

Refers to the upright stones placed at the head of graves, that is, over the head of the interred body, generally the site of an inscription noting the name and life and death dates of the deceased.

healing gardens

Gardens designed to improve or maintain the physical and mental health of the ill or injured, including gardens serving as clinical tools in horticultural therapy. For gardens designed for use by the handicapped or the elderly, use "enabling gardens."

health clubs

Establishments offering facilities for exercise and active physical conditioning, whether or not on a membership basis.

health facilities

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

health resorts

Resorts specializing in maintaining or improving the health or rejuvination of its clients, often including dietary and exercise instruction, bathing in mineral waters, breathing of fresh air, and formerly, extended exposure to sunshine (which was formerly considered healthy). Resorts specializing in maintaining or improving the health or rejuvination of its clients, often including dietary and exercise instruction, bathing in mineral waters, breathing of fresh air, and formerly, extended exposure to sunshine (which was formerly considered healthy).

heating systems

Assemblies of interrelated equipment designed to provide heat to buildings and other structures.

hedges

Plantings of bushes or woody plants in a row as a formal element of a landscape or as a barrier.

heiaus

Sacred temples of worship of native Hawaiian people, typically rectangular in shape and situated on hill tops or mountain slopes. Heiaus have carved designs of deep symbolism. For similar structures from East Polynesia, use "maraes."

helipads

Designates helicopter takeoff and landing surfaces, usually without commercial facilities.

helm roofs

Roofs of four steeply pitched faces, forming a spire; the four ridges rise from the peaks of four gables, the roof faces being set diagonally in relation to the gable faces.

helms (built works)

Vernacular British structures of uncertain construction and purpose, possibly temporary and made of wood with an earthen floor and used for storage of produce, equipment, or animals, popular from the 16th to the 19th century.

hemicycles

Rooms or divisions of rooms that are semicircular in plan.

henges

Designates circular areas bounded by a ditch and an enclosing embankment, the whole usually surrounding a circle or circles of standing stones or wood posts. For prehistoric circular enclosures of well-spaced large upright stones only, lacking bordering features, use "cromlechs."

herb gardens

Gardens in which primarily herbs are grown, often for flavoring food or making perfumes and medicines. For buildings or areas within buildings containing a systematically ordered collection of preserved plants, use "herbaria."

herbariums

No description is available for this term.

heritage trails

Organized and labeled trails laid out to follow points of interest concerning the local history of a region.

hermitages (religious communities)

Dwelling places of solitary hermits or of groups of religious in a relatively secluded setting.

high schools (buildings)

Buildings housing schools forming the third level of (usually compulsory) education for children, entered after elementary school and middle or junior high school; differing by school district in grades covered.

high schools (institutions)

Educational institutions for the third level of (usually compulsory) education for children, entered after elementary school and middle or junior high school. The grades or forms included in high schools vary by location, but often include grades 9 to 12. If the school district has no middle or junior high school, high school may include grades 7 to 12.

high-rise buildings

Buildings over nine or ten stories and served by elevators, especially when such buildings stand out in a skyline.

highways

Refers to major, high-speed, high-capacity roads between urban areas. The original meaning of "highways" referred to Roman roads that were raised above the ground level; for this meaning, use "elevated roads."

hill stations

Hill top resorts and places of refuge, especially in Asia, built by colonial administrators as an escape from the hot climates or politally unstable conditions.