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The traditional houses of Tananarive, the old quarters of Antananarivo, represent a specific architectural heritage. They are the fruit of cross-fertilization between Merina (traditional Madagascan) and European influences. The houses now are at the core of potent symbolic and identity-related issues. They are considered at one and the same time as emblematic of the ancestors’ house, which makes it essential to keep them within the family, yet as elements that underpin the status of “high castes” who now strive to protect them to assert a threatened identity. These xixth houses are in an advanced state of decay. Some are irreparable, given the multitude of factors that contribute to the degradation and the practical non-existence of conservation policies in a perilous economic situation. Nevertheless, certain factors, which vary from district to district, leave room for the state of the houses to be improved to various degrees.