Zaguan

Content sourced from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.

Zaguan is a house layout where a central passage runs from the front door to a patio or courtyard. It’s common in historic houses in Mexico and the southwestern United States. Rooms are usually one deep and face the street or the courtyard. The term can refer to the passage itself or to the whole area. A zaguán is a covered space just inside or behind the front door that acts as a vestibule and gives direct access from the street to the inner courtyard. Because it is partly outdoors and at street level, it’s often used as a mud room, for storing carriages or cars, or to reach service areas without going through the main house. This design is common in traditional Spanish and Hispanic architecture. The word comes from Arabic istawān.