The Guales lived in houses constructed of wood, thatched with palm-fronds. These dwellings were usually circular, more rarely rectangular in shape, accommodating from a few persons to more than a hundred individuals.

There were also to be found, in special circumstances, separate dwellings for women. This arrangement was sometimes adopted as a means of assuring family peace in cases where a man had plural wives.

The bohio, or council-house, served several purposes. Here the natives held meetings and ceremonial activities. On occasion, as many as three hundred men could sleep in one. ¹² The bohio at Tolomato was honored by the display, in a place of prominence, of an armorial shield bearing the royal arms of Spain.¹³

There were also mortuary houses in which the corpses of members of the community were kept for a period of mourning.¹⁴ During his captivity Fray Francisco d'Avila was ordered to serve in such a charnel, where food was regularly left for the demons to consume; he refused to have any part in this act of pagan worship.¹⁵

The Quale village had a special house for storing grain.¹⁶ Ore says this custom was common in every part of La Florida, describing the construction as a type of barn supported by four high and bulky posts.¹⁷