goatfarmnga
The standard design for houses in the campo is:
1) A concrete slab base.
2) Block walls extending about 3 feet upwards, with palm slabs after that. Some of the more upscale houses use fitted boards instead of slabs, but they're in the minority.
3) The windows are actually shutters - no glass.
4) Either a zinc or thatched roof. Either way, there is no ceiling, and a large gap exists between the top of the walls and the roof. That gap could be screened with a little work.
5) There is a small front porch.
6) No Dominicans' houses have screen doors, and even at the main Ochoa hardware store they don't know what a screen door is. Therefore, the doors have to be kept closed to mosquito proof the house. (I actually drew up my own design for screen doors and had a carpenter build them for me.)
This same design is often encountered in cities in the poorer barrios, as well. Others may be better, but many are worse.
Pam