Houses+and+palaces



The typical Muslim house was built on a standard pattern: a rectangular house built around a central courtyard with high windowless walls on the outside with a single low door. The interior space was important, not the outside. As family size increased, more rooms were built on the lot's unused land. Once the land around the courtyard has been covered, expansion took place in a vertical direction. Part of the house is separated for females. The men's reception (or guest) room tends to be located next to the entrance lobby of the house so that visitors do not meet with the females or violate the harem (the women's part of the house).