Burgage plot.

[h_minus1hour]

Is there a manual I don't know about?

One of the symbols when building the house I don't understand. I got the one that allows a second small home on the plot, but if the plot is really long it looks like a hammer under a roof. What does that mean?

[Yuuki]

There you can select which Craft the house should join (ranges from Egg production, Orchard, Goats to armour maker and Fletchers.

Back in the day it was quite common that people had their workplace in their house.

[Diruk]

That is an extension to the plot to generate additional resources or to make that family artisans once you unlock your second tier status.

[4nubis]

So the hammer icon is the backyard extension.
It allows you to add chicken farm or a vegetable garden.
Later you can add a bakery or a shoemaker workshop to the extension.
The second house icon allows for a future second home to be built.

[h_minus1hour]

So if the plot isn't big enough you can't do that?

[Scaristotle]

Originally posted by h_minus1hour:

So if the plot isn't big enough you can't do that?

Correct. Some large plots will have both the extra housing AND the backyard. You only need so many backyards, tbh, so it saves room to play with the extra housing.

[ShepherdOfCats]

Correct.

Helpful tip, if the game is splitting your planned-plot into too many (small) sections, you can click the minus button next to the build-hammer (confirmation) and it will reduce the number of plots that are formed.

As a rule of thumb, wider plots get extensions for you to later build living space for a 2nd family, longer plots get a workshop in the back-yard. Wide and long plots will get both.

There was an exploit(maybe?) in the demo where you could just build a big-a** plot and get lots and lots of vegetables from the garden upgrade but I'm not sure if it still works or if it got nerfed.