Peranakan architecture - Shophouses are vernacular architectural buildings found in Southeast Asia, particularly Singapore and Penang.  They are typically two or three stories high, with a shop on the ground floor and a residence above. Shophouses, like row houses in England and townhouses in the U.S.  The uits abut each other so as to form rows with a regular facade.  As its name suggests a shophouse often contains a shop with a separate residential space.