What is a detached house (viergevelwoning)?
A viergevelwoning (literally “four-facade house”) is a detached house: a house with four free external walls that does not adjoin any other dwelling. The term is common mainly in Belgium. In the Netherlands people usually speak of a vrijstaand huis (detached house). In Belgian planning regulations this is also called open bebouwing (open development).
Variants
In Belgium, houses are often named after the number of free facades:
- Tweegevelwoning (two-facade house): a terraced or mid-terrace house, with only the front and rear facades free (closed development).
- Driegevelwoning (three-facade house): a semi-open house or end-of-terrace house that adjoins a neighbour on one side (semi-open development, comparable to a semi-detached house).
- Viergevelwoning (four-facade house): fully detached (open development).
Advantages and disadvantages
Advantages
– Windows and daylight on all sides.
– No party wall, so no neighbour noise through the wall.
– More freedom when converting and extending, within the rules of the local zoning plan (in the Netherlands the omgevingsplan).
Disadvantages
– More heat-loss area: four external walls mean more heat loss than a terraced house with the same floor area. Good wall, roof and floor insulation is therefore extra important.
– More land and maintenance: a larger plot, more facade to paint or repoint and more roof edge.
– Higher construction and energy costs per m² of living space than with attached housing.
Tips for building or renovating
- Check the setback rules: the zoning plan often prescribes a minimum distance to the plot boundary. That determines how much you can extend.
- Orientation: place living spaces and large windows on the south and west, and limit glazing on the north to reduce heat loss.
- Insulate the external walls well when renovating: in a detached house, wall insulation makes a bigger difference than in a mid-terrace house.
Related terms
- Semi-open development (halfopen bebouwing, HOB)
- Ribbon development
- Facade
- Heat-loss area
- Thermal insulation
- Country house
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