Courtyard house

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A courtyard house is a type of house—often a large house—where the main part of the building is disposed around a central courtyard. Many houses that have courtyards are not courtyard houses of the type covered by this article. For example, large houses often have small courtyards surrounded by service rooms or corridors, but the main rooms are not disposed around a courtyard. Blenheim Palace in England is an example of such a house.

The main rooms of a courtyard house often open onto the courtyard, and the exterior walls may be windowless and/or semi-fortified and/or surrounded by a

.

History

The courtyard house makes its first appearance ca. 6400–6000 BC (calibrated), in the

The houses consist of a central courtyard surrounded by several small rooms. They range between 250 and 700 m² (about 2,700 and 7,500 ft²) in area. Monumental construction on this scale is unknown elsewhere during this period.

In Ancient Roman architecture courtyard houses were built around an atrium. Courtyard houses are also common in Islamic architecture.^[2]

Courtyard houses consisting of multiple separate residences have been built in many regions and eras, including the earliest

period. Throughout history the courtyard house has played a major role, and only in the last couple of centuries has its use been neglected. Recently, more attention has been given to the courtyard house, as a type to solve a number of problems of dense inner city housing.

Courtyard houses are also a form of dwelling built in the

.

Another type of courtyard house was built by the landowners in

Hatfield Palace

, which it was built to replace.

In the old towns of Morocco, known as medinas, courtyard houses have always been the standard form of housing. The traditional houses are called riads, riad being the name of interior gardens in Moorish architecture. Once neglected, Moroccan riads have experienced lately a real comeback with the tourism boom the country has been experiencing since the early 2000s. Many of these houses have been turned into guest houses, especially in cities likes Marrakesh, Essaouira, Fez and Tangier.

In rural villages of

]

See also

• Siheyuan: a style of Chinese courtyard house in Beijing.
• Riad: traditional courtyard houses in Morocco.

Notes