Zagori, a Greek region with slate roof

Houses until the 18th century were simple rectangular dwellings, often with only a ground floor and with ancillary areas in the basement used as stables. Indeed this appears to be the style of construction of the dwellings in the excavated Molossian site near Vitsa. Houses are built of local stone and have a slate roof. The roof slates are held together without cement, only by the weight of the slates above them. The slate roof therefore requires continual upkeep, subjected as it is to heavy snowfalls during the winter months.

That older type was developed through the 18–19th centuries into more complex styles all the way to the multi-storied manors of the wealthier families of the late 18th century. Many houses are fronted by a walled courtyard or garden. The courtyard gate is an edifice in itself, covered by a slate roof and connecting the house to the rest of the village.