Tallhouses in Waterdeep.
A tallhouse was a common kind of vertical urban building found in the cities Faerûn, used as homes and shops by all kinds of folk.[1][2] They might be called "sharedoors" when used as an apartment block or tenement.[3] A multi-level stone building with cellars (which included, but was not limited to tallhouses) was known as a "standath" on the Dragon Reach and the Moonsea, while one without cellars was called a "murdath" (usually because of bedrock, swampy ground, or flooding risk).[1]
Description[]
Almost to a one, a tallhouse was a tall, narrow building set wall-to-wall with its neighbors, or with at most a small "sidle-alley" between them that a person could squeeze through. They most often had a cellar level accessed by a "duck-down" set of steps that led from the street to a small landing. Beyond that, each tallhouse was unique to the city and builders it originated from.[2]
A common mixed-use tallhouse (such as one built in central Suzail) was a rectangular structure built of stone or brick for the first level, with half-timber and stucco construction rising an additional two, three, or even four levels above the street. The "first down" (cellar) level and the street level would normally be shops (a particularly expansive street shop could go upstairs as well), and the upper levels used as apartments for tenants. In the richest parts of town, the first above-street floor (and sometimes the whole upper building) was not residential but rather offices for businesses, filled with clerks performing paperwork. Otherwise, the typical arrangement was for the residents to rent a floor or half a floor for themselves, while in poorer parts of town the tallhouse was rented out as individual tiny rooms or small suites called "darchains", fitting up to a dozen cramped tenants (or families of tenants) per level. The different levels were normally reached by external stairs from ground level (mainly from the rear garden), though most buildings had some manner of internal stairway as well, whether a single continuous spiral staircase or a zig-zagging series.[1][4][2]
The tallhouse was ideally capped with slate or tile roofs rather than wooden shingles (they were still used, but prone to rotting, leaking, and breaking). Areas with heavy snowfall requiring a steeply pitched roof, leading to common dormers that were popular for sleeping with the windows open in warmer weather, while other climates allowed flatter roofs that included rooftop cisterns and gardens. A trend in Suzail was to add skylights to the roof, with three overlapping panes of glass to ensure strength, and almost all buildings had roof trapdoors, watersealed with pitch or gum and with a sturdy doorbar. It was typical for decorative ironwork to be added along the peak of the roof, sturdy enough to attach safety ropes for workers (such as for the Roofers, Thatchers, and Glaziers Guild), and rainwater downspouts on the corners (these were rarely sturdy enough to bear the weight of someone climbing or jumping onto them, and thieves were advised to bring their own ropes and ladders). Lightning rods were frequently added to each end of the peaked roof and connected to the downspouts in order to ward off Talos's casual wrath.[1][4][2]
Most tallhouses had a walled and gated back garden for the building, but this wasn't a guarantee, and in some cases the building didn't have a back at all as it fronted onto two different streets. Each tenant would have their own kitchen (based around a compact iron stove) or have to use a communal brick oven in the back garden (assuming there was one), and it was normal for shared laundry chutes and chimneys to run from cellar to attic, or to the roofshed if available. Windowbox gardens were common for growing herbs and pipeweed, but balconies might be limited to the uppermost levels to protect against cat burglars. If someone owned an entire level of the building then they would likely do their cooking on the back balcony to lower the risk of fire. Toilets varied in luxury from individual chamberpots and a communal back yard outhouse, to in-apartment "sluice-privies" that dropped waste into the sewers and were flushed with a jug of water or even a pull-chain that drew from the rooftop cistern.[1][2]
History[]
Tallhouses were built in the dense and rich cities of Faerûn, most prominently in Athkatla and Waterdeep, the Cormyrean cities of Suzail, Marsember, and Arabel, and the major Sembian cities of Selgaunt, Saerloon, Daerlun and Yhaunn. This building style developed as the growing populations of safe and prosperous walled cities forced people to build up instead of out, resulting in tall, narrow buildings that sat wall-to-wall with each other facing the street.[1][4]
Tallhouses became a common and mainstream architectural design during the 1300s DR, and by the latter end of the century it was a trend for tallhouses in the rich neighborhoods of Selgaunt and Waterdeep (specifically the North Ward and Sea Ward) to be owned by singular rich landlords that rented them by the floor, as opposed to the more chaotic darchain arrangement.[1]
Appendix[]
External Links[]
Terraced house article at Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia.
References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 Ed Greenwood (October 2012). Ed Greenwood Presents Elminster's Forgotten Realms. (Wizards of the Coast), pp. 77, 78, 104, 105. ISBN 0786960345.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 Ed Greenwood, The Hooded One (2005-05-23). Questions for Ed Greenwood (2005). Candlekeep Forum. Archived from the original on 2024-05-03. Retrieved on 2025-06-12.
- ↑ Jeff Grubb and Ed Greenwood (1990). Forgotten Realms Adventures. (TSR, Inc), p. 119. ISBN 0-8803-8828-5.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 Ed Greenwood (September 2001). “Elminster's Guide to the Realms: Shadowdark House”. In Dave Gross ed. Dragon #287 (Wizards of the Coast), p. 70.