Dutch billy

English thumb|A Dutch billy on Jervis Street, Dublin Etymology Apparently a transferred use of Dutch Billy, a nickname for William III of England William III (applied to the houses on account of their Dutch appearance).The Liberties of Dublin Elgy Gillespie 1974 E. & T. O'Brien 64 https://archive.org/details/libertiesofdubli0000gill Noun ies A kind of terraced house with distinctive curved gables, formerly common in Dublin and other Irish towns. en 1889 Thomas Drew Unhealthiness of Dublin Barracks The Builder https://archive.org/details/gri_33125007023191/page/54 56 2398 54 They were ready to be superseded on their sites at the end of the seventeeth century by what we call the "Dutch Billy" houses. en 2011 Frank McDonald Dutch Billy 18th century houses at risk The Irish Times https://irishtimes.com/news/dutch-billy-18th-century-houses-at-risk-1.615380 The term Dutch Billy refers to gable-fronted houses built in the late 17th and early 18th centuries – not just in Dublin, but also Cork, Drogheda, Limerick and Waterford – by waves of Huguenot and Quaker immigrants as well as tradesmen from Britain. https://web.archive.org/web/20260921015830/https://www.irishtimes.com/news/dutch-billy-18th-century-houses-at-risk-1.615380 21 September 2026 en 2014 David Dickson Dublin: The Making of a Capital City Harvard University Press https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=2524BAAAQBAJ&pg=PA86 86 With the adoption of brick earlier in the century, "Dutch billies" became the common house-type, with gable-fronted facades, cruciform roof ridges, shallow windows without sashes, tight stairwells, small halls and floor-to-ceiling panelling, more elaborate houses displaying curved or stepped front gables. Related terms Dutch gable References