Most Dominican homes were made of wood since ever. It has only been since the late 1980’s or the first half of the 1990’s when cement homes started to outnumber wooden one. Zinc roof began to replace thatch one only in the late 1800’s or early 1900’s. The typical Dominican wooden home actually evolved from the bohíos of the Taino. In the beginning of the colonial period the Spaniard took the bohíos and made them square/ rectngle and added beams to make the walls more secure. Most also had dirt floors up to the 20th century.
The same could be said of the Dominican middle class. Almost entirely it has been created since the 1970’s and, believe it or not, it was gkvernment policies that caused that change. Until then Dominican society was mostly poor and a tiny group of rich at the top, that’s it.