One Seal residential building is a courtyard-style mud-wood structure, also known as "palace", "patio", and "yard" houses. Such residential buildings in Shilin County are mainly distributed in the Shilin County town where Han people live. One Seal residential building is named by the local as its thick walls, heavy tiles, square site, and square appearance like a seal. It is the most representative of Han ethnical culture.

One Seal residential building has grey tiles covering the roof; and its outer ring are high walls made of pressed bricks or adobe, some are also made of bricks with inner adobe called “gold covering silver”. One Seal residential building is usually in the form of "three rooms and four wings", namely three main rooms, two wings on east and west each, and an opposite room in the front. Main rooms have two to three floors while wings and opposite room both have two. The small buildings are connected with each other by a corner-turning path, that is, there is a front porch on the second floor of the big building around the patio so that people can walk around upstairs. Entering the gate on the first floor you will see the patio, and the hall is behind it. Wings are on the sides of the patio, they are separated into four rooms including kitchen, stable, pigsty, and toilet; main rooms are on the two sides of the hall, having two bedrooms. At the junction between wing and main room, there are two stairs leading to the second floor. Wings on the second floor are divided into five rooms for storage; the middle of the main room is ancestral hall for worship and the two sides are bedrooms. Higher than wings by a roof, main room has a window in the front and enjoys good light and ventilation. This layout arrangement is the reflection of the family ritual in the feudal society. The feature of One Seal residential building is easy expansion. Larger-scale dwellings are often made up of two “One Seal” in series, accessed from the door of a wing. The place between the two yards is made into a hall for ceremonial feasts. The largest "One Seal" residence can achieve the scale of "three sunny rooms, five mood lighting rooms, six wings, and five halls". The most representative, large-scale, and well-preserved One Seal residential buildings in Shilin County are the residential building of No. 1 Xiaodongmen, the residential building on Huancheng East Road, and the One Seal residential building of Shilin County Party Committee courtyard.

2. Four-Building & Five-Patio

It is a courtyard-style building of mud-wood structure. Four-Building & Five-Patio is a folk name of an architectural form with four buildings on each side connecting each other with a wing and a small patio - and the big patio in the center is the fifth. Four-Building & Five-Patio in Shilin has the roof covered with grey tiles, dual eaves and gabbled roof. Usually there are three rooms in each building, totaling 12 rooms. The features of Four-Building & Five-Patio in Shilin County include large scale, thick walls, gable wall above tile roof, strict layout, clear axis, bilateral symmetry, distinct highlights, undulating outline, and closed appearance. Corbiestep is used for gable wall construction to avoid heaviness and stiffness while showing a gentle and graceful curve. Typical buildings with Four-Building & Five-Patio structure include Four-Building & Five-Patio residential building of County Party Committee courtyard and Wei Clan House in Dake Village.

3. Stone House

This only exists in Nuohei Village, Guishan Township. Nuohei Village is built in the embrace of lush green mountain, where high-quality stones that can be separated by layers are widely distributed. With these stones, industrious and wise Yi people have created stone houses with unique local ethnical characteristics. A stone house has two floors with plate tiles on the roof. Beams, columns, rafts and slabs are made of wood, and gable and back walls are made of stone. There are three rooms on each floor, 16 or 18 tile lines on main room’s roof and 14 or 18 tile lines on wing’s roof. The sunny room downstairs is “hall” with bedrooms on both sides. There is a fire pit in the hall, and the kitchen is located on the right side of the hall or in a wing. Upstairs is usually not for staying, but mainly storing food or stacking big items. Attachments like barn, toilet, and firewood house are built outside. The floor is paved with thin slabstone with unique appearance and practical strength. Stone house gives an indestructible sense of security.

Stone houses in Nuohei Village have reasonable layout, smart design, and well-proportioned presentation, maintaining the original traditional features. Among these, closed stone-wood stone houses account for more than 99%. Designed according to terrain, they have unique and beautiful appearance and practical strength. Some stone houses have been experiencing more than a hundred years and are very firm. Stone house is the most characteristic residential building of local ethnic minority in Shilin County.

4. Thatched House

This is more preserved in Moon Lake area of Xijiekou Township. It is generally mud-wood structure with stone for foundation, pressed mud bricks for walls, and solid round logs or square timbers for pillars. Although the walls are made of pressed mud bricks, they are very solid and can last for generations without collapse. Thatched house has a roof with double-sided slopes covered with thatch. When covering the roof, first pat on the thatch will all the fluff fall, then splash cold water on it and wait for wind blow, then set the thatch on ablaze - the part soaked in water will not be burned by the fire, forming a solid thatch roof. When building a house like this, the gable is built high, exceeding the thatched roof, and a slabstone will be covered on the gable. Its function is to have the gable block wind and flames, control the fire, and try to avoid fire to going elsewhere to harm neighbors in case of fire. This thatched house is simpler than brick ones, but it costs less and is warm in winter and cool in summer.