The history of informal settlements can be read through the construction and renovation of the houses that comprise them. By retracing the stages of housing construction, this article clarifies the process of densification, consolidation, and formalization in the barrio El Libertador, in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. Three narratives, collected and graphically translated during an ethnographic survey conducted between 2016 and 2018, allow us to understand temporalities, inhabitant strategies, mutual aid networks, and the impact of urban policies on the history of this slum. The analysis shows structural housing changes in terms of physical and social configurations, which progressively translate into homogenization and isolation in terms of housing patterns.