The typical Bontoc dwelling has walls about three and a half feet high, with the front wall open in the middle. The walls on the front and the sides are built of wood slabs but the rear is constructed with stones chinked with clay. The floor is the earth itself often covered with hardened mud. On the left, as one enters is a small room partially marked off by stones sunk in the earth. This is the place where the family pound and thresh their rice or millet. Next to place on the left is a small space where the food, including that for the pigs, is cooked. Down the center of the house extends a passage way and to the right as one enters is a shelf or bench called (chuksu) where various household articles are placed.