This type was common in the 19th century due to the increased density in historic Cairo. It was designed for more than one family, each family has a separate house. The houses form one building used to be distributed around one open courtyard and each house had a private staircase from the courtyard to the upper floors. The design had two apartments per floor and each apartment was built on a small lot of land. Al-Sitt Sakna house is an example for this type.
