This paper examines extra-marital affairs, cohabitation, and polygamy as a ‘small house concept’ in Zimbabwe. The term ‘small house’ was coined in the late ’90s as a contemporary way to demean and denounce the practice of unconventional unions. In recent years the term has now grown to be used in line with the reconstruction of polygamy, debatably, as a contemporary marriage. This concept was advantageous to men and predominantly disadvantageous to women both the customarily or legally married wife and the one in a small house setting. This concept also brings to light masculinity behaviors and societal constructs, inevitably querying men’s attitude and on the other hand women's reaction to it. Differentiating and examining the cultural and traditional causes would help in examining the effects of masculinity models being constructed on the boy and girl child in both these family setting households: ‘small house’ and ‘legit’ family households. Additionally, this paper will use a gender framework to analyze the effects on the husbands, wives, extramarital partners and children in terms of maintenance, inheritance, support and the overall concept of family in the modern-day Zimbabwean. The paper also examines and proposes a negotiation of cultural practices with religious, customary and legal guidance as an intervention to the conflicts and family disintegration caused by the ‘small house’ practice.