Does a house with a "staggered shotgun" layout mean I still have to walk through my roommate's room?

Question

or are the bedrooms private? I grew up in a double-barrell shotgun where a couple of the doors were on the other side of the house, out of line with the others, but you still had to walk through every room.

Is THAT a staggered shotgun, or does it mean there are private bedrooms?

This is a repost, for some lulz check out some yankee's outraged response to my original question!

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;_ylt=ArYsrm7ccbVGK2Jvb4ENSTnsy6IX;_ylv=3?qid=20080820082410AA8Jsnk

Answer 1

As you know, a  "shotgun house" is one with the rooms all in a row and with all the doors lined up.  One explanation for the term is that one can "fire a shotgun in the front door and the pellets will go out the back doors without hitting anything".

Shotgun houses were commonly built in SE Louisiana until the 20th century because property taxes were based on the number of rooms in a building, and hallways (also closets) counted as "rooms".

However, I have never before heard the term "staggered shotgun" and I have lived in New Orelans almost all of my life.

It could meant there is a hallway part of the length of the house (I lived in a house like that) or it could merely mean it the doors simply don't line up.

You need to find out exactly how the house in question is laid out and not count on the term accurately describing it.

Good luck!

  

Answer 2

I once lived in a small shotgun house in New Orleans several years ago. I was very young and wasn't really familiar with the term. At the time I worked for an engineering firm, and when I later told them where I lived, they giggled and smirked and said "You live in a shotgun house?!" As this was my first home in the city, I was quite proud of it.

The house consisted of a living room, two bedrooms, a kitchen, and a bathroom that looked like it was added as an afterthought. The bathroom was stuck off the side of an otherwise totally rectangular shaped house. The doorways were "staggered", but one was required to pass thru both bedrooms to reach the kitchen from the living room. However, I've never heard the term "staggered shotgun". In my little house, you walked from the living room (front), into the first bedroom, then into the second bedroom, then into the kitchen, then out the back door. The bathroom was stuck off the first bedroom, and anyone that needed access to the bathroom HAD to go thru the first bedroom to get there.

If you'll be living in a shotgun in New Orleans, yes, you will have to walk thru someone's bedroom to get back and forth thru your house.

Answer 3

I think it means someone was murdered there. Beware of ghosts!

Answer 4

Sorry I can't answer your question. Around here we call those little houses like the ones built after WWII for affordable housing for soldiers, shotgun houses. LOL at that guy's answer though. He took your question a little too seriously I think.