In the matrilineal Minangkabau society, the Rumah Gadang is owned by the women of the family who live there; ownership is passed from mother to daughter.

The term Rumah Gadang usually refers to the larger communal homes; however, smaller single residences share many of its architectural elements.

Today, Rumah Gadang architectural elements, especially its gonjong horn-like curved roof, can be found in modern structures, such as governor and regencies office buildings, marketplaces, hotels, the facades of Padang restaurants, and Minangkabau International Airport.

The most common housing forms have traditionally been wooden and raised on piles, built of locally gathered materials, with steeply pitched roofs.

[4] A communal rumah gadang is a long house, rectangular in plan, with multiple gables and upsweeping ridges, forming buffalo horn-like ends.

They are broad and set on wooden piles that can reach as high as 3 metres (10 ft) off the ground; sometimes with a verandah running along the front face of the house which is used as a reception and dining area, and as a sleeping place for guests.

The house is largely constructed of wood; an exception being the rear longitudinal wall which is a plain lattice woven in a chequered pattern from split bamboo.

Traditionally, large communal rumah gadang will be surrounded by smaller homes built for married sisters and daughters of the parent family.

It is said that the number of married daughters in a home can be told by the counting its horn-like extensions; as they are not always added symmetrically, rumah gadang can sometimes look unbalanced.

Thirty-seven of them refer to flora, such as kaluak paku ('fern tendrils'), saluak laka ('interwoven rattan'), pucuak rabuang ('bamboo shoots'), areca-nut palms,[1] and lumuik hanyuik ('washed-away moss').

Twenty-eight motifs refer to fauna, such as tupai tatagun ('startled squirrel'), itiak pulang patang ('ducks going home in the afternoon) which symbolizes co-operation and homecoming wanderers,[1] and kumbang janti (golden bumblebee).

The remaining twenty-nine motifs refer to humans and sometimes their activities or behavior, such as rajo tigo (three kings of the realm), kambang manih (sweet flower, used to describe an amiable girl) and jalo takambang (casting a net).

The koto piliang design reflects an aristocratic and hierarchical social structure, with the house containing anjuang (raised floors) at each end to permit elevated seating of clan leaders during ceremonial events.

Large communal homes are entered through a doorway in the centre of the structure which is usually surrounded by a perpendicular porch with a triangular gable and upsweeping peaked ridge end.

The Negeri Sembilan Minangkabau, however, have adopted the Malay-style roof construction, with continuous ridge piece thatched with lengths of palm-leaf attached to battens.

[1] More orthodox Islamic influence has also led to variations such as modifications to the interior layout, as women are more restricted to the rear of the house than in the case of the matrilineal Sumatran Minangkabau.

The construction and maintenance of a rumah gadang is the responsibility of ninik mamak, the elder male blood-relatives of the matrilineal descent group that owns and builds it.