Want another major difference? Shotgun houses were popular primarily in the south. Railroad-style houses originated as a New York City apartment design style in the mid-1880s because of ...

“Shotgun” houses — typically narrow, rectangular, one-story structures featuring doors on each end with a straight “shot” from one to the other — are closely associated with New Orleans.

Among these local design quirks is an adorably petite home style called the Shotgun house. Originally popularized in New Orleans and other parts of Louisiana around the 1800s, shotgun homes are ...