Editing Courtyard (section)

=== China ===
[[File:Cave Dwelling - Courtyard.jpg|thumb|Sunken courtyard complex, Henan, 2009]]

The traditional Chinese courtyard house, (e.g. [[siheyuan]]), is an arrangement of several individual houses around a square. Each house belongs to a different family member, and additional houses are created behind this arrangement to accommodate additional family members as needed. The Chinese courtyard is a place of privacy and tranquility, almost always incorporating a garden and water feature. In some cases, houses are constructed with multiple courtyards that increase in privacy as they recede from the street. Strangers would be received in the outermost courtyard, with the innermost ones being reserved for close friends and family members.

In a more contemporary version of the Chinese model, a courtyard can also can be used to separate a home into [[wing (building)|wings]]; for example, one wing of the house may be for entertaining/dining, and the other wing may be for sleeping/family/privacy. This is exemplified by the [[Hooper House (Baltimore, Maryland)|Hooper House]] in Baltimore, Maryland.