Stone houses are one of the ancient dwellings. Today, they represent a significant aspect of Saudi heritage. These houses were primarily constructed in mountainous areas where stones, a key building material, were readily available due to the abundance of rocks. Roofs were often covered with locally available timber from trees such as juniper, acacia, and Ziziphus spina-christi. The construction of these houses required collaboration among several workers to divide the tasks.
Some of these stone houses date back over five hundred years, and different parts of the house had distinct names depending on the building’s design, whether it was one or two stories, or its specific use, such as a guest reception area, a kitchen, or a grain storage space to protect it from the rain. These names include "al-Sih," "al-Qawa'i," "al-Jahwa," "al-Musha," "al-‘Alou", and "al-Misra'a."
In the Kingdom's southwestern mountainous regions, the stone houses' upper floors were typically used for living, sleeping, cooking, and entertaining guests. The lower floors were reserved for storing livestock like sheep and cattle and animal feed.
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