A face-me-I-face-you house is one of the popular housing structures in Lagos. You’ll mostly find them in lower-class neighborhoods to cater to low-income earners.
This kind of house is very popular because of the usual conflicts that occur with tenants living there, due to closeness and sharing of facilities.
In this article, I’ll explain what a face-me-I-face-you house is, its features, and what you’ll learn about this kind of living arrangement.
What is a Face-Me-I-Face-You House?
A face-me-I-face-you house, also known as a face-me-I-slap-you house, is a type of building that comprises a set of single rooms or room-and-parlor designs facing each other across a passage or hall.
This design forms a row on each side, consisting of four, or six rooms, or more.
In this arrangement, facilities like the toilet, kitchen, and bathroom are not attached to the rooms. Rather, they are built separately, usually at the back of the house for the tenants to share.
Most tenants sometimes use their room as their kitchen while they share the toilet and bathrooms with other tenants.
This kind of arrangement often attracts quarrels and fights among neighbors. However, there’s also the part where neighbors get to talk and relate well with each other.
5 Characteristics of a Face-Me-I-Face-You House
In a face-me-I-face-you living arrangement, tenants share amenities, which leads to struggles and conflicts almost every day. Also, there’s noise, either from the fights or from close-door neighbors.
All of these make living in this kind of house difficult and also interesting.
Below are the features of a face-me-I-face-you house:
Shared Facilities
Shared facilities are one of the main layouts of a face-me-and-face-you apartment. A toilet, bathroom, and, most times, kitchen are built at the back of the house for tenants to share.
Depending on the size of the house, landlords usually build these facilities in twos to accommodate the number of tenants.
Everyday Struggles
Another characteristic of a face-me-I-face-you house is the daily struggles. Since tenants are sharing basic facilities, it’s always a struggle every day, especially in the mornings.
Almost everyone wakes up early to have their bath and use the toilet, which leads to queues and sometimes fights.
Some of these single rooms accommodate families with children, increasing the number of people wanting to use these facilities at the same time.
Tension and Quarrels
There’s no face-me-I-face-you house without conflicts. Think about it- people living very close to each other and sharing facilities.
There must be fights- it’s either about who didn’t clean the toilet well, whose turn to bath, who owes nepa bill, who gossiped about who, and many more.
It’s an unending series of misunderstandings and wars. You can’t live in such a house and not be ready to face trouble.
There’s always that person who causes trouble and there’s always that thing that causes trouble.
Noise
Where there are always fights and quarrels, it means there’d be noise. It can be chaotic in a face-me-I-face-you house.
From the early morning shouts to the late-night battles – I mean, one is just behind my window, so I hear the noise almost every day.
Also, the noise could come from your next-door neighbor playing loud music or engaging in some other activities. Most times, complaining doesn’t end it; it rather leads to more noise.
If you’re going to live in this kind of house in Surulere or anywhere, be prepared to deal with the noise.
Gossips
Gossiping is another feature of a face-me-I-face-you apartment and probably the interesting part. It could be light-hearted gossip or evil-minded gossips, which often incite quarrels and malice.
The gossip can be between two or more people, either talking about their fellow tenants, about what happened where they went to, or Nigeria problems.
These morning, afternoon, or evening talk is the fun part of staying in such a kind of house. There’s hardly time for loneliness or boredom.
Once there’s no power supply, you can come out to gist with your neighbors. Except, you want to be on your own, you can enjoy this part of communal living in a face-me-I-face-you house.
4 Things You Will Learn Living in a Face-Me-I-Face-You House?
One characteristic of human beings is adaptability. They can adapt to their environment with time. The reason people opt for face-me-I-face-you houses is that they’re very cheap, and that’s what they can afford.
The average cost to rent a face-me-I-face-you apartment in Surulere is N300,000.
Below are what you’ll learn living with people in a face-me-I-face-you house:
Resource Sharing
If you’re the type that doesn’t know how to share, living in a face-me-I-face-you house will teach you that. You’ll share a toilet, bathroom, kitchen, and even line to spread your clothes to dry.
It can be very difficult, especially if you have dirty neighbors who don’t keep these facilities clean after use.
Managing Conflict
As a tenant of a face-me-I-face-you house, you must learn how to manage conflict. Even if you’re the quiet type, there’s always that troublesome neighbor who’d bring trouble to your doorstep.
You can avoid fighting and quarreling. However, it’ll be difficult to avoid having problems with someone, except the majority of the neighbors are cool people, and you are.
Notwithstanding, it’s left to you to manage how you’ll deal with people and avoid unnecessary fights and quarrels.
Avoiding Gossip
If you’re the type that doesn’t like engaging in gossip or idle chatters, you have to learn how to avoid such in a face-me-I-face-you apartment.
There will always be someone who wants to talk about your neighbor to you, and it’ll take effort to avoid dismissing them.
Dealing with Noise
You’ll also learn how to deal with the noise in a face-me-I-face-you house, except you’re the noise creator.
From generator noise and music to fights; it’s an everyday routine.
End Note
If you’re looking to rent a face-me-I-face-you house, you should be prepared for anything. This comprehensive guide has provided first-hand information on how to navigate living in such an environment.
Just be respectful and also assertive, unless you want neighbors to treat you badly.
To get the best face-me-I-face-you house in Surulere, contact RentHouseSurulere for your guide.
