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 The Houses of Muğla

The houses in the city of Muğla are generally located on steep and rocky hills, facing the plain of the same name. The houses of Muğla are similar to those on the Karabağlar Plateau and Düğerek. The houses stand on narrow streets, hardly wide enough to let a car pass and are generally of two storeys and have a courtyard. Some have their semi-open area for sofas closed in though more recently built houses were constructed with no such open space. The houses are generally focused inwards, especially on the ground level, with almost no houses having windows facing the street. Instead there are many windows facing into the courtyard area. The eaves of the open and semi-open living areas of the houses are decorated. Since the front aspect of the building is determined by the courtyard areas, on the land where the houses are built a balance of sun and views are sought. Thus the houses are constructed on the upper corners of the land, closed to the north and open to the south. The plan of the houses varies depending on where the living area is and the rooms surrounding it and to where the staircase leading to the second floor is located. The staircases are made of wood and the area beneath them is used for storage. If the staircase is made symmetrical there are usually one or two rooms on each side. The width of the sofa area is in harmony with the width of the arms of the staircase that lead to it. The rooms are behind the sofa area and in a line with each other, each of them extending to the back wall of the house. All rooms open up directly to the sofa area. In this type of houses, the area under the staircase leading to sofas, as it is close to the garden, are used as toilets.

The houses are entered through a gate door called the "kuzulu kapı" (lamb door). The door is level with the height of the courtyard walls, and is in two halves, with most having a tin coating over the wood panels. The courtyards, which are in use for seven or eight months of the year, are built to harmonise with closed parts and semi-closed sofa areas of the houses. They are covered with flat stone and most of them have an interior garden with a pool. Trees are grown close to the walls.

The kitchen, cooking facilities, cellar or even the bath are usually located in either separate buildings or an extended part of the house attached to one wall. There are often clean water cisterns or wells either inside or outside this out building, which are generally made of stone or wood. For the roof alaturca tiles are being used, while the chimneys that are such a characteristic of the houses of Muğla are also closed at the top with a unique hat shape made of alaturca tiles.