diff --git a/scripts/Building.cs b/scripts/Building.cs
index 9a8f7bf..c23a0bf 100644
--- a/scripts/Building.cs
+++ b/scripts/Building.cs
@@ -99,6 +99,13 @@ public class Building
     /// whole population per building (that was the sim's O(n²) hot spot).</summary>
     public int Occupancy;
 
+    /// <summary>The two most-represented home-towns among this shelter's
+    /// current sleepers — for the map's household coloring. When two towns
+    /// share a roof (someone shacked up across cultures), the house is drawn
+    /// split. Recomputed with Occupancy each tick.</summary>
+    public string ResidentTownA = "";
+    public string ResidentTownB = "";
+
     public int RestCapacity =>
         Kind == BuildingKind.Shelter && IsComplete && !IsRuined ? 3 + Modules : 0;
 
diff --git a/scripts/GameManager.cs b/scripts/GameManager.cs
index ddf351a..57df8fe 100644
--- a/scripts/GameManager.cs
+++ b/scripts/GameManager.cs
@@ -164,6 +164,14 @@ public partial class GameManager : Node2D
         return new Vector2(World.GridSize / 2f, World.GridSize / 2f);
     }
 
+    /// <summary>The soul culture of a named town (for map coloring).</summary>
+    public SoulType TownSoul(string town)
+    {
+        foreach (var t in _towns)
+            if (t.Name == town) return t.Soul;
+        return SoulType.Nature;
+    }
+
     public Vector2 TownCentroid(string town)
     {
         Vector2 sum = Vector2.Zero;
@@ -325,6 +333,48 @@ public partial class GameManager : Node2D
         Npcs.AddRange(newborns);
     }
 
+    /// <summary>
+    /// Tally which home-towns sleep under each shelter, storing the top two.
+    /// A house with residents from two towns is a mixed household — someone
+    /// shacked up across cultures — and gets drawn split on the map.
+    /// </summary>
+    private void RecomputeHouseholds()
+    {
+        var counts = new Dictionary<Building, Dictionary<string, int>>();
+
+        foreach (var npc in Npcs)
+        {
+            if (npc.State != NpcState.Resting) continue;
+            Building? at = null; float best = 6.25f;
+            foreach (var b in Buildings)
+            {
+                if (b.RestCapacity <= 0) continue;
+                float d = npc.Position.DistanceSquaredTo(b.Site);
+                if (d < best) { best = d; at = b; }
+            }
+            if (at == null) continue;
+            if (!counts.TryGetValue(at, out var byTown))
+                counts[at] = byTown = new Dictionary<string, int>();
+            byTown[npc.HomeTown] = byTown.GetValueOrDefault(npc.HomeTown) + 1;
+        }
+
+        foreach (var b in Buildings)
+        {
+            b.ResidentTownA = "";
+            b.ResidentTownB = "";
+            if (!counts.TryGetValue(b, out var byTown)) continue;
+
+            string a = "", bTown = ""; int ca = 0, cb = 0;
+            foreach (var kv in byTown)
+            {
+                if (kv.Value > ca) { bTown = a; cb = ca; a = kv.Key; ca = kv.Value; }
+                else if (kv.Value > cb) { bTown = kv.Key; cb = kv.Value; }
+            }
+            b.ResidentTownA = a;
+            b.ResidentTownB = cb > 0 ? bTown : "";
+        }
+    }
+
     /// <summary>Where the community's feet actually are — new communal
     /// buildings are founded here, not at a scripted town center.</summary>
     public Vector2 CommunityCentroid()
@@ -356,6 +406,11 @@ public partial class GameManager : Node2D
             if (at != null) at.Occupancy++;
         }
 
+        // Household composition (which cultures share each roof) — for the
+        // map only, so it's cheap and refreshed occasionally, not every tick.
+        if (TotalTicks % 30 == 0)
+            RecomputeHouseholds();
+
         TotalTicks++;
 
         foreach (var npc in Npcs)
diff --git a/scripts/NPC.cs b/scripts/NPC.cs
index cd6ca89..5338d27 100644
--- a/scripts/NPC.cs
+++ b/scripts/NPC.cs
@@ -950,15 +950,20 @@ public class Npc
         nearest = found;
 
         // Consider bonding: an unbonded adult who keeps warm company with a
-        // compatible, unbonded neighbor may pair with them. Same town, real
-        // warmth, both grown — companionship chosen, not assigned.
+        // compatible, unbonded neighbor may pair with them — real warmth,
+        // both grown, companionship chosen not assigned. Town is NOT a
+        // requirement: usually you bond within your own people (that's who
+        // you're near), but a wanderer who warms to someone from another
+        // town can shack up across cultures — the first quiet thread of
+        // contact between two peoples.
         if (!IsBonded && IsAdult && nearest is { IsBonded: false, IsAdult: true } n &&
-            n.HomeTown == HomeTown && Position.DistanceTo(n.Position) < 4f &&
+            Position.DistanceTo(n.Position) < 4f &&
             GetWarmth(n.Name) > 0.4f && n.GetWarmth(Name) > 0.4f)
         {
             Partner = n;
             n.Partner = this;
-            Godot.GD.Print($"[Bond] day {gm.Day}: {Name} and {n.Name} ({HomeTown}) pair up.");
+            string kind = n.HomeTown == HomeTown ? HomeTown : $"{HomeTown}+{n.HomeTown}";
+            Godot.GD.Print($"[Bond] day {gm.Day}: {Name} and {n.Name} ({kind}) pair up.");
         }
         if (nearest != null && Position.DistanceTo(nearest.Position) > 3f)
         {
diff --git a/scripts/Visualization.cs b/scripts/Visualization.cs
index 30e3ca7..c11f805 100644
--- a/scripts/Visualization.cs
+++ b/scripts/Visualization.cs
@@ -83,18 +83,52 @@ public partial class Visualization : Node2D
         }
 
         // --- Map: buildings ----------------------------------------------
+        // Shelters wear their town's culture-color; granaries stay green;
+        // ruins go dark. A house shared by two towns (a mixed household) is
+        // split diagonally, half each culture — you can see across the map
+        // where someone shacked up with a neighbor from another people.
         for (int i = 0; i < _gm.Buildings.Count; i++)
         {
             var b = _gm.Buildings[i];
-            Color c = b.IsRuined   ? new Color(0.25f, 0.23f, 0.20f)
-                    : b.Kind == BuildingKind.Granary
-                                   ? (b.IsComplete ? new Color(0.55f, 0.70f, 0.40f)
-                                                   : new Color(0.45f, 0.52f, 0.32f))
-                    : b.IsComplete ? new Color(0.9f, 0.85f, 0.6f).Darkened((1f - b.Condition) * 0.5f)
-                    :                new Color(0.6f, 0.5f, 0.3f);
             float size = CellPixels + 3f + (b.CurrentStage + b.StageProgress) * 2f + b.Modules * 1.5f;
             var p = MapPos(b.Site);
-            DrawRect(new Rect2(p.X - size / 2f, p.Y - size / 2f, size, size), c);
+            var rect = new Rect2(p.X - size / 2f, p.Y - size / 2f, size, size);
+
+            if (b.IsRuined)
+            {
+                DrawRect(rect, new Color(0.25f, 0.23f, 0.20f));
+            }
+            else if (b.Kind == BuildingKind.Granary)
+            {
+                DrawRect(rect, b.IsComplete ? new Color(0.55f, 0.70f, 0.40f)
+                                            : new Color(0.45f, 0.52f, 0.32f));
+            }
+            else
+            {
+                // Base color = the house's own town culture, dimmed by wear.
+                float dim = b.IsComplete ? (1f - b.Condition) * 0.5f : 0.35f;
+                Color own = TownColor(_gm.TownSoul(b.Town)).Darkened(dim);
+
+                bool mixed = b.ResidentTownB != "" && b.ResidentTownB != b.ResidentTownA;
+                if (mixed)
+                {
+                    // Split diagonally: town A on the upper-left triangle,
+                    // town B on the lower-right.
+                    Color ca = TownColor(_gm.TownSoul(b.ResidentTownA)).Darkened(dim);
+                    Color cb = TownColor(_gm.TownSoul(b.ResidentTownB)).Darkened(dim);
+                    var tl = new Vector2(rect.Position.X, rect.Position.Y);
+                    var tr = new Vector2(rect.End.X, rect.Position.Y);
+                    var br = new Vector2(rect.End.X, rect.End.Y);
+                    var bl = new Vector2(rect.Position.X, rect.End.Y);
+                    DrawColoredPolygon(new[] { tl, tr, bl }, ca);   // upper-left ▲
+                    DrawColoredPolygon(new[] { tr, br, bl }, cb);   // lower-right ▼
+                }
+                else
+                {
+                    DrawRect(rect, own);
+                }
+            }
+
             DrawString(font, p + new Vector2(size / 2f + 2f, 4f), $"{i + 1}",
                 fontSize: 10, modulate: TextDim);
         }