Most Cherokee families had two houses; one for the summer and one for the winter. The summerhouses were rectangular with wooden pole frameworks, clay walls, and thatched roofs. Winter homes were much smaller and were usually built over a fire pit and had cone-shaped roofs. Cherokee villages were well fortified with vertically stacked logs that protected them from hostile tribes. The typical Cherokee village was comprised of about 30-60 homes with one council house where meetings were held and where the sacred fire was burned. Villages typically held between 400-500 people. The Cherokee nation was divided into hundreds of villages, some of which were considered “red,” or warring villages and some of which were considered “white,” or peaceful villages.