Old Quintuplets

I came across a row of five houses that must have been, at some point, entirely identical... surprisingly still here all in a row in an area that developed into older apartments and light industrial uses.

It's a neat little place to experience "how buildings learn(ed)"... but actually, I'm surprised how much the original forms have remained intact (at least at the fronts), suggesting perhaps that the prototype (archetype?) was quite adequate and even potent -- a nice image of what good design can be... nothing flashy, just striving for strong archetypes.