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Boards
flanking the front and rear doors rise to the beams. The
rafters of the roof rest on the beams and extend downward
close to floor level.  The
roof frame is sheathed with reed-like runo, then
covered with thatch. At an inner corner of the house is
the fireplace. At the level of the beam is a storage
loft with a floor of runo stalks. The wooden parts of
this house are joined by rabbeting and by mortise and
tenon. Other parts are fastened by lashing. Since nails
are not used, the house can easily be dismantled,
carried to a new site and reassembled.
The
solitary room is also the sleeping room, kitchen, dining
room, storeroom and shrine for rituals. Only husband and
wife and youngest child or children in infancy live in
this house. Upon reaching the age of reason, sons and
daughters sleep in separate communal dormitories. Next
to this house stands its twin. This one is actually a
granary with the same design as the house.
In Mayoyao, the Ifugao house is
distinguished by its classic simplicity. Its roof is
high and steep. Low stone walls and a pavement form the
setting of this house. With the smooth, fine-grained,
hardwood posts, rat guards are not necessary.
The
elevated living space in the fale becomes a granary in
the Bontoc house, as the living quarters move down to
ground level. A low wall encloses the ground floor. The
four-post-two girder-three-joist structure of the Ifugao
is also used in the Bontoc house.
The Sagada house resembles the
Bontoc house but is fully covered. It is a wooden box
with a steep thatch roof as a lid. With the granary
within, the Sagada house is a "house within a
house".
The Kankanai house is still another
variation of the Ifugao prototype. The roof is higher
and wider, thereby providing a spacious loft above the
living space. On the ground level, wooden planks are
laid to create more livable space.
The
Ibaloi house has a larger room, a flaring roof, and a
small porch.
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