In 1913 French company Southern Aluminium hired New York design firm to plan the town of Badin. The original townsite featured streets winding through the natural landscape around a hill or outcrop of boulders. Southern Aluminium built only one private residence for the Company Manager. All the other structures were multifamily .

By 1914, when the French left Badin, fifty seven quadruplexes had been started and left in varying degrees of completion. Each housing unit would accommodate 4 families. These “early townhouses”, unique to Badin, still provoke curiosity.