In many villages of the island there are still samples of an older type of house whose roof was made of clay-soil and called taratsa (terrace). This type of house was made of the simplest materials and used to be the most popular in Samos in the middle of the 19th century.

The simple houses of Samos, follow the Aegean architecture. They used to be small because the needs of the people were also deteriorated. The house was used only as a place to eat and sleep. Wood, stubbles, rocks were used for the house's making. It usually had two floors connected by a small stair.

The ground floor was the cellar and the storage room for tools etc. or even used as a shelter for the domestic animals.

The families lived on the first floor. There were no furniture or beds. They all slept on mattresses on the floor. Water was taken from fountains and brought to the house. It was carried in big jugs. The houses were not luxurious but many families with lots of children lived in them.

Same as the houses were the huts that had wine-presses and stoves. A house with two floors usually had a storage room, a sink, cupboards, wooden boards and a clay-soil terrace.

Sections of a two-storied house (in the image)