Suburban houses built for the middle classes in the first half of the century were often influenced by the Arts and Crafts style, with steeply pitched tiled roofs, high gables and casement windows with leaded lights. They were echoes of traditional English country cottages and this remained a popular form through the 1930s. The apartment or flat was a new and alternative form of living for the middle classes in the 1920s and '30s, providing modern, convenient and comfortable accomodation, often close to the city centre.