The Big House on the Corner Symbol in The House of the Spirits

The big house on the corner, where generations of the Trueba family live, symbolizes family, as well as Clara and her supernatural powers. Esteban begins construction on the mansion when he is engaged to Clara, and they move in—along with Esteban’s sister, Férula—after they are married. Esteban builds the sprawling mansion to reflect his family’s high social standing, and he intends for several generations of Truebas to live and prosper there. Clara, however, doesn’t take any real interest in the house until after her twins, Jaime and Nicolás, are born. Soon after, the Mora sisters and other students and enthusiasts of spiritualism arrive at the house and move in. Clara orders the construction of a new room with each new guest, and the house soon turns into a twisted web of crooked hallways and dead-end staircases—a complicated and eerie structure which reflects Clara’s mysterious powers, like her ability to levitate furniture and communicate with spirits.

Clara’s granddaughter, Alba, knows that Clara is the “soul” of the big house on the corner, which is something the rest of the family doesn’t appreciate until after Clara’s death. Clara dies when Alba is just seven years old, at which time the house begins to deteriorate. The curtains and windows remained closed, flowers wilt in their vases, and tiles begin to break from the roof. In the following years, the house falls into ruin, except for Clara’s bedroom, which Esteban keeps sealed and pristine so that he can find Clara’s spirit whenever he wants. At the end of the novel, as Esteban begins to slowly heal and mend family relationships he previously neglected, he orders the restoration of the house. The big house on the corner again resembles the grand mansion it once was, which, since Esteban built the house for the Truebas, underscores the unbreakable connection and resilience of family.

The Big House on the Corner Quotes in The House of the Spirits

The The House of the Spirits quotes below all refer to the symbol of The Big House on the Corner. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:

Class, Politics, and Corruption Theme Icon

His house would be the reflection of himself, his family, and the prestige he planned to give the surname that his father had stained. […] He could hardly guess that that solemn, cubic, dense, pompous house, which sat like a hat amid its green and geometric surroundings, would end up full of protuberances and incrustations, of twisted staircases that led to empty spaces, of turrets, of small windows that could not be opened, doors hanging in midair, crooked hallways, and portholes that linked the living quarters so that people could communicate during the siesta, all of which were Clara’s inspiration. Every time a new guest arrived, she would have another room built in another part of the house, and if the spirits told her that there was a hidden treasure or an unburied body in the foundation, she would have a wall knocked down, until the mansion was transformed into an enchanted labyrinth that was impossible to clean and that defied any number of state and city laws.

Related Characters: Clara del Valle/Trueba, Esteban Trueba

Related Symbols: The Big House on the Corner

Page Number and Citation: 104-5

Explanation and Analysis:

The Big House on the Corner Symbol Timeline in The House of the Spirits

The timeline below shows where the symbol The Big House on the Corner appears in The House of the Spirits. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.

...architecture or design, but he wants his new house, which quickly becomes known as “ the big house on the corner ,” to reflect himself and his family. Esteban insists the house be fabulous, and it... (full context)

...and she is completely dependent on Esteban, but he doesn’t invite her to move into the big house on the corner . Férula knows that Clara is incompetent in domestic matters and won’t be able to... (full context)

Three months later, Esteban and Clara return from their honeymoon to Férula and the big house on the corner . Clara looks around the house quickly and says only that it is “very lovely.”... (full context)

...her, and brushes her hair. Esteban returns to Tres Marías, and while he is gone, the big house on the corner settles into a “gentle routine without men.” Férula hates when Esteban returns from the country,... (full context)

...takes Clara’s pregnancy as a personal insult and arranges for them all to return to the big house on the corner . Clara again stops speaking, and spends months wandering silently through the house. Around this... (full context)

Once Clara and Férula return to the big house on the corner , Férula calmly delivers Clara’s two healthy baby boys before Dr. Cuevas or the midwife... (full context)

One Friday, the three Mora sisters arrive at the big house on the corner . The women are strangers, but they are drawn to Clara and the house, and... (full context)

...on staying to serve the sick and the poor. Férula’s absence is deeply felt in the big house on the corner , especially by Nana, since Clara still doesn’t tend to any domestic matters. Clara begins... (full context)

One day, “a group of Gurdjieff students, Rosicrucians, spiritualists, and sleepless bohemians” arrive at the big house on the corner , and the eclectic group moves in, just as the Mora sister did. Esteban doesn’t... (full context)

...to watch them more closely. When the time comes for Blanca to go back to the big house on the corner , she spends the afternoon saying goodbye to Pedro Tercero, kissing and swearing eternal love. (full context)

Back at the big house on the corner , everyone sits down to dinner at the table, and just as Esteban begins to... (full context)

...Blanca’s aura. Three years pass in much the same way—summers at Tres Marías, winters at the big house on the corner —until the year of the big earthquake. (full context)

The big house on the corner survived the earthquake without major damage, except for Nana, who died in her bed the... (full context)

...have tuberculosis, but they prefer she leave all the same. Clara and Blanca go to the big house on the corner , and find it in complete disarray since Nana’s death, so they decide to dismiss... (full context)

...Segundo. Clara never speaks to Esteban again. Two days later, Clara and Blanca return to the big house on the corner , leaving Esteban at Tres Marías. After Pedro Segundo takes the women to the train... (full context)

Clara and Blanca arrive at the big house on the corner and immediately go to work removing sheets from the furniture and opening drapes and windows.... (full context)

...at the university, and Nicolás, who is in search of his destiny, both move into the big house on the corner , and Clara is ecstatic to live with her sons again. The boys pool their... (full context)

...to find Jean de Satigny and orders him to marry Blanca. Later, Esteban arrives at the big house on the corner and angrily bursts through the door. Nicolás meets him in the foyer, and when he... (full context)

...for several days. Blanca and Jean’s wedding is a lavish affair and 500 guests flood the big house on the corner . Clara, however, still refuses to come out of her room. (full context)

After the wedding, Blanca moves out of the big house on the corner , and Clara grows depressed. She tries communicating with Blanca telepathically, but Blanca never put... (full context)

...his heart, but he keeps his distance out of respect for Nicolás. Amanda frequently visits the big house on the corner , always with her five-year-old brother Miguel in tow. (full context)

...and the nation, and other than tax evasion, he has never broken a serious law. The big house on the corner begins to fill with politicians and propaganda leaflets, and Clara and her following of spiritualists... (full context)

...of love sonnets written by the Poet, who is a frequent guest of Clara’s at the big house on the corner . Jaime is irritated—he sees Nicolás’s frivolous lifestyle as a personal insult—and Nicolás wastes no... (full context)

Jaime and Nicolás take Amanda back to the big house on the corner so that Clara can keep an eye on her as she heals. Clara immediately tells... (full context)

...clothes and accessories to match his new status. While he is gone, Blanca goes to the big house on the corner to visit Clara. Esteban meets her in the kitchen and screams at her. He tells... (full context)

When Blanca arrived at the big house on the corner , she was immediately taken to Clara’s room, where Jaime (with Clara and Amanda’s help)... (full context)

In the meantime, Amanda and Miguel leave the big house on the corner . Amanda has healed completely from her abortion, and she has grown increasingly aware of... (full context)

...Clara is still incompetent when it comes to domestic matters, so the everyday running of the big house on the corner falls to Blanca, who makes crèches in her pottery shop when she isn’t tending to... (full context)

...in her kiln and that Rosa stitched onto her tablecloth. As Alba grows up in the house on the corner , surrounded by Clara’s eccentricities and Nicolás’s strange hobbies, Esteban worries that she will end... (full context)

...Pedro Tercero, and he won’t let Blanca forget that he allows her to live in the big house on the corner . Esteban can’t understand why so many men want to spend time with Blanca—she has... (full context)

...to leave, Pedro kisses Blanca on the mouth. Alba is shocked. Since no one in the big house on the corner is in love, she has never seen an intimate kiss between two people. (full context)

Blanca lives a poor life in the big house on the corner ; she is careful to never ask Esteban for anything. She makes a miserable salary... (full context)

As Blanca is busy most days running the big house on the corner , Alba spends her time with Clara. She grows used to her grandmother’s eccentricities, and... (full context)

...of the caged birds in the courtyard. Alba knows that Clara is “the soul of the big house on the corner ,” but the rest of the family doesn’t appreciate this fact until after Clara is... (full context)

...the peasants, so she doesn’t recognize Esteban García when he knocks on the door of the big house on the corner . The young man says he would like to see Senator Trueba, and he is... (full context)

After Clara’s death, the big house on the corner begins to decline. The flowers wilt in the vases, and Esteban wanders around the house... (full context)

For Alba, Blanca is the only stable person in her life at the big house on the corner . Esteban still lives there, but his political cronies stop visiting, and he confines himself... (full context)

...together, but Alba soon discovers that the safest place for them to have sex is the big house on the corner . If the servants hear anything, Alba says, they will just think it is the... (full context)

...meantime, Blanca runs a network for moving black-market goods. She stocks the empty rooms in the big house on the corner with useful goods, like soap and sugar. Blanca even has two barrels of soy sauce.... (full context)

One day, Luisa, the last remaining Mora sister, visits the big house on the corner . When she enters, Esteban feels the spirit of Clara enter with her. She has... (full context)

At the big house on the corner , Esteban pours a glass of champagne in celebration. Alba grabs the glass from his... (full context)

Two weeks later, the kind solider goes to the big house on the corner and tells Blanca all about Jaime’s death. Blanca calls for Esteban so he can hear,... (full context)

Alba decides to start hiding wanted revolutionaries in the abandoned rooms of the big house on the corner , just as Blanca hid Pedro Tercero. Esteban, who has come across Clara’s spirit many... (full context)

The police barge into the big house on the corner in the middle of the night and force Esteban and Alba outside. Luckily, there aren’t... (full context)

...and Barrabás’s head staring at her from the rug below. When Alba arrived back at the big house on the corner , she went immediately to the library, where she knew Esteban would be waiting, and... (full context)

...was shocked that he even knew about Miguel. After Alba’s arrest, Miguel showed up at the big house on the corner and tried to help Esteban find her. It was Miguel’s idea to go to Tránsito... (full context)

When Alba returned home, Esteban went to work fixing up the big house on the corner . It was thoroughly cleaned, and a fresh coat of paint applied, and even the... (full context)

The House of the Spirits

Isabel Allende

The Big House on the Corner Symbol Analysis

The Big House on the Corner Quotes in The House of the Spirits

The Big House on the Corner Symbol Timeline in The House of the Spirits