Credit Facility, Loans Payable, Senior Notes, Senior Subordinated Notes and Mortgage Company Warehouse Loan Credit Facility, Loans Payable, Senior Notes, Senior Subordinated Notes and Mortgage Company Warehouse Loan (Details Textual 1) (USD $)	3 Months Ended	12 Months Ended				1 Months Ended																		1 Months Ended						1 Months Ended	3 Months Ended					12 Months Ended		1 Months Ended
	Oct. 31, 2012	Oct. 31, 2012	Oct. 31, 2011	Oct. 31, 2010	Sep. 05, 2012	Nov. 30, 2012 6.875% Senior notes due 2012 [Member]	Oct. 31, 2012 6.875% Senior notes due 2012 [Member]	Feb. 07, 2012 6.875% Senior notes due 2012 [Member]	Oct. 31, 2011 6.875% Senior notes due 2012 [Member]	Nov. 22, 2002 6.875% Senior notes due 2012 [Member]	Oct. 31, 2012 5.95% Senior notes due 2013 [Member]	Feb. 07, 2012 5.95% Senior notes due 2013 [Member]	Oct. 31, 2011 5.95% Senior notes due 2013 [Member]	Oct. 31, 2010 5.95% Senior notes due 2013 [Member]	Sep. 03, 2003 5.95% Senior notes due 2013 [Member]	Oct. 31, 2012 4.95% Senior Notes due 2014 [Member]	Oct. 31, 2011 4.95% Senior Notes due 2014 [Member]	Oct. 31, 2010 4.95% Senior Notes due 2014 [Member]	Mar. 16, 2004 4.95% Senior Notes due 2014 [Member]	Oct. 31, 2012 5.15% Senior Notes due 2015 [Member]	Oct. 31, 2011 5.15% Senior Notes due 2015 [Member]	Oct. 31, 2012 8.91% Senior Notes due 2017 [Member]	Oct. 31, 2011 8.91% Senior Notes due 2017 [Member]	Feb. 29, 2012 5.875 % senior notes due 2022 [Member]	Oct. 31, 2012 5.875 % senior notes due 2022 [Member]	Feb. 07, 2012 5.875 % senior notes due 2022 [Member]	Oct. 31, 2011 5.875 % senior notes due 2022 [Member]	Oct. 31, 2012 6.75% Senior Notes due 2019 [Member]	Oct. 31, 2011 6.75% Senior Notes due 2019 [Member]	Sep. 30, 2012 0.5% Exchangeable Senior Notes Due 2032 [Member]	Oct. 31, 2012 0.5% Exchangeable Senior Notes Due 2032 [Member]	Sep. 05, 2012 0.5% Exchangeable Senior Notes Due 2032 [Member]	Oct. 31, 2011 0.5% Exchangeable Senior Notes Due 2032 [Member]	Feb. 07, 2012 5.875% Senior Notes Due February 15, 2022 [Member]	Feb. 07, 2012 Senior notes issued through an exchange [Member]	Oct. 31, 2011 Senior Notes [Member]	Oct. 31, 2010 Senior Notes [Member]	Sep. 30, 2012 Sept2012HoldersofDebtInstrument [Member] 0.5% Exchangeable Senior Notes Due 2032 [Member]	Sep. 30, 2012 Sept2012CompanyConversionRighttoDebtInstrument [Member] 0.5% Exchangeable Senior Notes Due 2032 [Member]
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Percentage of Holding In Subsidiary	100.00%	100.00%
Senior Note Payable (Textual) [Abstract]
Interest rate on notes					0.50%		6.875%	6.875%		6.875%	5.95%	5.95%			5.95%	4.95%			4.95%	5.15%		8.91%			5.875%	5.88%		6.75%				0.50%
Additional common share if convertible debt exchanged	5,900,000																														5,900,000
Debt Instrument, Convertible, Terms of Conversion Feature																																						Holders of the 0.5% Senior Notes will have the right to require Toll Brothers Finance Corp. to repurchase their notes for cash equal to 100% of their principal amount, plus accrued but unpaid interest, on each of December 15, 2017, September 15, 2022 and September 15, 2027.	Toll Brothers Finance Corp. will have the right to redeem the 0.5% Senior Notes on or after September 15, 2017 for cash equal to 100% of their principal amount, plus accrued but unpaid interest.
Debt Conversion, Convertible, Conversion Ratio																														20.3749
PrincipalAmountDenomination																																$ 1,000
Debt Instrument, Convertible, Conversion Price																																$ 49.08
Issued Senior Notes	2,080,463,000	2,080,463,000	1,490,972,000				59,068,000		139,776,000		104,785,000		141,635,000			267,960,000	267,960,000			300,000,000	300,000,000	400,000,000	400,000,000		419,876,000			250,000,000	250,000,000		287,500,000	287,500,000		300,000,000	119,900,000
Proceeds from issuance of the Senior Notes		578,696,000																						296,200,000						282,500,000
Senior Notes Exchanged								80,700,000				36,900,000
Costs associated with the exchange of both series of notes		1,200,000
Expenses related to early retirement of debt			(3,827,000)	(1,208,000)																																3,800,000	1,200,000
Repayments of Senior Debt			58,837,000	46,114,000		59,100,000
Senior Notes Redemption Amount				$ 45,500,000					$ 55,100,000					$ 13,500,000				$ 32,000,000