Residential houses of peasants' in Samegrelo are made of rough planed wood and covered with straw. The houses have two doors on opposite sides. There are no windows or a fireplace. The fire is lit in the middle of the house, on the compacted earth floor. The smoke protrudes from a poorly fastened roof or the doors. There are two small chairs, several long beds with vegetables hung on them, a few wooden bowls, spoons, and a small pot – these all make up the whole equipment of the house. The harvest is stored in the attic. During the winter, people and domestic animals live under one roof: buffaloes, cows, horses. The animal stall is separated by a thin partition.

 

Such houses are cool in summer and warm in winter. At first, the four corners of the house are built, and then these corners are tied up together with transverse beams placed on top of each other to form a structure; wood piles are slid into the grooves along the length of the door frame. The roof placed over four columns supported by bars rising up from the floor to the top of the roof. Such buildings, which are built without nails and, therefore, can be easily dismounted and moved to another place, are rather solid and reliable.

 

A wealthy landlord lives in a different type of building, less primitive and quite comfortable. Such houses are single-story buildings built using the polished ash or oak wood. The lower part of the building is made of stone, the outside is plastered with lime. The door and window are made in Persian style. The house is heated by a fire, which is burning openly. The house has a long roofed balcony on the front facade and sometimes on the sides – the balcony is fenced with carved wood carvings. The balcony are installed on carefully crafted wooden columns. The roofs of the houses are inclined and is covered with thin oak til cut with an ax, which are laid on top of each other like tiles in three layers.

 

The interior of the house consists of couches, which are covered with “nokhs” (rugs)and “ muthaks during the day, and serve as beds at night. There are also two or three tables for tea in the house and various weapons, buck horns, some chromolithographs hanging on the wall. The icon hangs in the corner of the room.

 

Most of the dwellings are located on a slightly elevated plateau, where the air is better than on the plains. Some houses are hidden deep in the forest.

 

A peasant's yard is quite an extensive area with different types of fence: in some places there are wooden fences with a high and roofed gate incorporated in it, in other places green trees are held together by X-shape crossbars in the form of an, and the entrance to such a fence is a half-closed gate with a movable transverse coil, which the cattle could never cross.

 

The residential area is chosen with great care; it should be protected from the eastern wind. The peasant no longer needs to fear the careless eye and desire of the lord, who in the past could easily take away his beautiful daughter, wife, or cattle that he would notice while passing by. Nevertheless, other precautionary measures are necessary today. First of all, if the homeowner is a thief, it is necessary for him to easily see what is happening outside from his own house, who is coming, so that he can escape in time and hide the stolen goods. In addition, it is essential that a nobleman who unexpectedly returns from a journey, who is unworthily deceived by his own managers (who arbitrarily charge peasants extra taxes and do not record them), cannot notice that the leased land is ten times larger than the paid tax. That is why peasants rarely build houses along the roadside, and if they do, in such cases, the yard always forms a blunt angle in relation to the road.

 

A place to built a house on was chosen very carefully and it should have be protected from the east wind. The peasant no longer has to be afraid of the watchful eyes and heart of the Master, who could easily take away from a peasant his beautiful daughter, a wife or cattle that the landlord noticed while passing by. However, other precautions need to be taken today. First of all, if the owner of the house is about himself, he needs to be able to easily see from his own house what is happening outside, who is passing by, etc., so that he can escape in time and hide the stolen goods. Moreover, it is necessary that he, returning suddenly from a journey, and being unworthily deceived by his own rulers (the peasants are arbitrarily overtaxed and not accounted for), should not be able to notice that the leased land is ten times larger than the tax paid. That is why peasants rarely build houses on the roadside, and if they do, the yard always forms an obtuse angle to the road.

 

Usually the house is hidden behind the green trees. A narrow path zigzags there. A braided fence around the yard protects the corn and fruit from outside goods, and, above all, hides the life going on there from prying eyes.