The Meaning of Home

The Hidden Staircase

The threatened sale and eventual preservation of The Mansion deepen the novel’s interest in inheritance, belonging, and the security of private life.

increasing

Bearing strength in each event

decreasing

A Family Inheritance A Family Inheritance from "The Hidden Staircase". The Past in the Rooms Ancestral Portraits The Mansion’s portraits and old furnishings suggest a family history that Rosemary and Floretta value.

A Family Inheritance from "The Hidden Staircase". The Past in the Rooms Ancestral Portraits The Mansion’s portraits and old furnishings suggest a family history that Rosemary and Floretta value.

The Past in the Rooms Ancestral Portraits The Mansion’s portraits and old furnishings suggest a family history that Rosemary and Floretta value. The building is more than a commodity to its occupants. A Line Near Its End The sisters know that their family line will not continue through descendants. Their home carries a particular weight because it preserves a vanishing history.

A Price Put on Memory A Price Put on Memory from "The Hidden Staircase". Property and Belonging A Disputed Value Nathan’s proposed price is far below what the sisters believe the house is worth.

A Price Put on Memory from "The Hidden Staircase". Property and Belonging A Disputed Value Nathan’s proposed price is far below what the sisters believe the house is worth.

Property and Belonging A Disputed Value Nathan’s proposed price is far below what the sisters believe the house is worth. The disagreement concerns money but also the future of a family home. History as an Asset The possibility of a historical museum gives the property public significance as well as private meaning. Nathan seeks to profit from the gap between its value and the sisters’ fear.

Fear Makes Home Unlivable Fear Makes Home Unlivable from "The Hidden Staircase". Belonging Under Pressure Daily Safety Undermined The sisters’ locked home no longer feels secure.

Fear Makes Home Unlivable from "The Hidden Staircase". Belonging Under Pressure Daily Safety Undermined The sisters’ locked home no longer feels secure.

Belonging Under Pressure Daily Safety Undermined The sisters’ locked home no longer feels secure. Unexplained events make familiar rooms seem occupied by an unseen enemy. Forced Departure Imaginable Rosemary and Floretta consider leaving not because they have ceased to love the house, but because fear has made remaining seem impossible. The scheme attacks their ability to inhabit their own home.

The House Explained The House Explained from "The Hidden Staircase". Knowledge Restores Possession An Intruder Identified The hidden route shows that the sisters’ home was violated by a person using concealed architecture.

The House Explained from "The Hidden Staircase". Knowledge Restores Possession An Intruder Identified The hidden route shows that the sisters’ home was violated by a person using concealed architecture.

Knowledge Restores Possession An Intruder Identified The hidden route shows that the sisters’ home was violated by a person using concealed architecture. The house’s apparent strangeness becomes an understandable breach of security. Agency Recovered The sisters can help inspect the openings and decide what must be sealed. Explanation helps them reclaim the home emotionally as well as physically.

The Home Preserved The Home Preserved from "The Hidden Staircase". A Future Without Coercion Sale Prevented The sisters no longer need to accept Nathan’s low offer to escape the haunting.

The Home Preserved from "The Hidden Staircase". A Future Without Coercion Sale Prevented The sisters no longer need to accept Nathan’s low offer to escape the haunting.

A Future Without Coercion Sale Prevented The sisters no longer need to accept Nathan’s low offer to escape the haunting. His arrest removes the pressure that distorted their choice. A Place for Hospitality They shelter Carson during his recovery and give Nancy the urn as a keepsake. The Mansion becomes a secure home again, open to friendship rather than intrusion.

Nancy’s first tour of the house

When Nancy learns about Nathan’s six-thousand-dollar option claim

After the successive thefts and nighttime disturbances

After Nancy reveals the hidden passages

After Nathan’s arrest