What is a shotgun floor plan?

The floor plan of a shotgun house is most easily described as long and narrow. The building may or may not have windows on the long sides. A few interior rooms lie in a one-story row with no hallways, perpendicular to the street.

The shotgun design works well on narrow city lots where homes are often built close together. Front porches encourage neighborhood interaction. Cheap and easy to build, shotgun houses have historically been used by the poor, boomers in a hurry to find wealth in the West, and those left homeless by disasters. Floor plans of original shotgun homes as well as modernized versions are available on the Internet.