The new anthropology of architecture proposes understanding the technical, social, and symbolic dimensions of buildings as a whole. Meanwhile, the idea of treating houses as autonomous entities with lives that are parallel to their creators has emerged as a major theme. In order to provide an illustration of the solidarity between these two approaches, this article focuses on the Ette’s –an indigenous people from northern Colombia– architectural practices,. Through detailed ethnographic research, this paper shows how houses are not only anthropomorphically interpreted, but they are also considered to be holders of bodies that are subjected to processes of growth and decay: just like humans. The Ette thus blend the tangible and intangible dimensions of the house and innovatively bring together concepts such as building and person, architecture and anatomy, shelf life and life cycle.