yes, i basically made a moat around my house and placed water at the corners that rushed inward under the house into rooms that mobs would drown in and drop their loot. it was like this:
W = water
_ | = water/dirt boundary
H = house
> < ^ v = flow of water
> > vv < < v |WWWWWWWWWW| v
v |WWWWWWWWWW| v
|WWHHHHHHHWW|
> |WWHHHHHHHWW| <
>|WWHHHHHHHWW|<
> |WWHHHHHHHWW| <
|WWHHHHHHHWW|
^ |WWWWWWWWWW| ^
^ |
WWWWWWWWWW| ^
> > ^^ < <
ya its kinda sloppy, but that's the basic idea. its 10x10x4 blocks, if your house is bigger, or smaller, then the moat size is two blocks across around the outside of your house. build rooms three blocks high with glass at the end that is 1x2x2 so that loot can pass under that, but not mobs.
If you dont understand any part of that just say so