BUNGALOW

A bungalow (Gujarati: બંગલો baṅglo, Hindi: बंगला baṅglā) is a type of single-story house. The word derives from the Gujarati word baṅglo, which in turn came from Hindi baṅglā. It means "Bengali", used elliptically for a "house in the Bengal style". Such houses were traditionally small, only one story, thatched and had a wide veranda. Bungalows today are a type of house that is usually single story or one and a half stories, and can be quite large.

In India, the term bungalow refers to any single-family unit (i.e., a house), as opposed to an apartment building, which is the norm for Indian middle class city living. The Indian usage is different from the North American usage insofar as a bungalow can be a quite large, multi-storied building which houses a single extended family. In India, owning a bungalow is a highly significant status symbol.

Advantages

Bungalows are very convenient for the homeowner in that all living areas are on a single storey and there are no stairs between living areas. A bungalow can be more easily converted to a wheelchair-accessible home. Neighborhoods of only bungalows offer more privacy than similar neighborhoods with two story houses.

With bungalows, strategically planted trees and shrubs are usually sufficient to block the view of neighbors. With two story houses, the extra height requires much taller trees to accomplish the same and it may not be practical to place such tall trees close to the house to obscure the view from the second floor of the next door neighbor. On the other hand even closely spaced bungalows make for quite low density neighborhoods, contributing to urban sprawl.

Source : Wikipedia