The top floor of a high rise building is usually considered as the penthouse. The penthouse in an apartment building will always be the most luxurious unit in the building and many Las Vegas penthouses for sale are very expensive. The price of a luxury penthouse is not only due to its location, they take the entire floor, often have superior fittings and in many cases they have a dedicated elevator with stops in the lobby, the garage and the penthouse floor. The term penthouse was not always associated with luxury accommodation.
From the viewpoint of an architect, the penthouse is a standalone structure on the roof of a high rise building. The structure takes up about half the roof area and is used to house all the mechanical and control components of the bank of elevators. The penthouse in these terms also acts an enclosure for heating, ventilating and air conditioning equipment. When thought of in mechanical terms, it is far from the luxurious living accommodations that are imagined when the term is heard in real estate jargon.
The idea for a luxury apartment on the top floor of a building harkens back to the 1920s when high rise buildings were first being built. In the 20s many rich people had considerable funds which allowed them the luxury of pampering themselves with high end accommodations. When the first penthouses were built, they became newsworthy and all of a sudden, living at the top of a building became fashionable. Many Las Vegas penthouses for sale today are thought of in the same vein. The early penthouses occupied the top floor of the building, it did not take long before multiple floors were dedicated to penthouse living. The penthouses became the cr
