What is the Size of a 2-Bedroom House or Duplex?
A two-bedroom house is the minimum size for multi-occupancy. It’s suitable for a family of 3 or 4 people including the couple. One bedroom is shared by the couple and the other is occupied by one or two kids. Just like most multi-occupancy dwellings, two-bedroom dwellings are available in different architectural formats such as detached single-family homes, duplex house, terraced units and apartments. A detached single-family home offers more space, privacy and room for extensions and landscaping on the private lot. Apartments, duplexes and terraced houses are MDUs built in a community complex owned by property developers.
Types of 2-Bedroom Houses
Besides the building classification into detached, duplex and apartments, a two-bedroom dwelling can be classified by its design. There are single-storey as well as double-storey housing units. In a two-storey house, the ground floor will accommodate the kitchen, dining, living room , common toilet/bath room, laundry and storeroom. Bedrooms are situated on the upper floor, but they can also be situated on both floors depending on the size of your living room and gross floor area.
A house with two bedrooms can have an open-plan kitchen, living and dining room on the ground floor or alternatively these rooms can be divided by partition walls.
What is the Minimum Size of a 2-Bedroom House?
All types of residential dwellings have minimum room areas, heights and horizontal dimensions defined by the International Residential Code (IRC) or Housing Maintenance Code prepared by local municipalities. We are going to calculate the minimum size of a two-bedroom house based on one of these codes:
From our previous post, we determined that the minimum size of a combined bathroom/toilet using IRC minimum requirements:
The minimum size of this combined bath and toilet is 68 x 60 inches (5.67 x 5 feet) = 4080 square inches (28.35 ft2).
We also know the minimum size of the following:
Bedroom 1 – 7 x 10 feet
Bedroom 2 – 7 x 10 feet
Living room – 7 x 10 feet
Dining room – 7 x 10 feet
Kitchen – Can be less than 7 x 10 feet (5 x 10)
Storeroom – Can be less than 7 x 10 feet (5 x 6)
Laundry – Can be less than 7 x 10 feet (3 x 6)
Passages – at least 3 feet wide.
Foyer – Can be less than 7 x 10 feet (6 x 6)
2 x Bathrooms – Can be less than 7 x 10 feet (5.67 x 5)
Total Area = 70+70+70+70+50+30+18+36+28.35(2) =
Based on minimum requirements, the minimum internal size of a 2-bedroom house is 470.7 ft2 (47.73m2).
Size of 2-Bedroom Houses/Apartments in the Property Market
As expected, two-bedroom houses and apartments in the property market will be much larger than the IRC minimum requirements for habitable rooms.
Size of 2-Bedroom Dwellings in the USA (Chicago, New York and Los Angeles)
In the USA, the size of two-bedroom dwellings ranges from 658 ft2 to 1752 ft2 (61m2 to 163m2). Most dwellings with 2 bathrooms have a minimum net floor area of 1000 ft2, while larger homes 1350+ ft2 can accommodate 2.5 bathrooms.