Interesting question-- I would have to say, yes, it is.

I don't know if I feel that way in every house, but every home-- yes.

Oddly, I also personify furniture. I think things like a chair looks lonely and wants to join the party . . .

Looking forward to reading others' thoughts on this. Thanks for the topic!

Haha, yes, it's too creepy crawly right now, those durn spiders! No critters thankfully, well, at least only the ones I allow, my dogs!
To me, that question is a religious one involving what you believe in. As inanimate objects having souls is not something I believe, the answers no.

As much as I love my house, I don't believe it has a soul. If I removed all my treasured possessions, and all my loved ones left, it would be an empty shell.

It does, however have a nice, efficient, layout, a pleasant (to me) color scheme, and all the people I love still enjoy spending time here. If I sold the house, I'd hope that the next owners would enjoy it just as much, but I don't think the house itself would help or hinder them in any way.

When our house burned in 2003, it made me realize that a house and everything in it is just stuff. No, it is not living.

But the spider that son D brought up in a tissue, from the basement last night to show me was living!

I think you can add (or remove) the feeling of warmth and comfort in a house with the use of color, paint, furnishings, art, etc. The "soul" comes from the people living there and not the actual structure.

Interesting question. I don't know that it has soul but in combination with tying it to the outdoors and being true to it's construction style when decorating and renovating I like to think that I have maintained it's energy. I don't know if that makes sense.

We have also been here for 24 years and raised our two sons The neighbourhood and neighbours have been a great spot for raising our kids. I like to think that we have infused this house with happiness and thereby creating a home and I hope to someday pass that happiness onto another young family.

No. We -- our family and the lives we lead -- provide the soul of a house. However, like Nancy Lancaster, I do think each house has a certain essence. And, like Nancy Lancaster, I like to get the essence out of a house via working with its interior and exterior design and its provenance.

To add - my hardwood floors were once living trees, my granite was once part of the Earth - does that give my house any sort of life.

Now, on the other hand, my house produces off-gases just like my sons do. :)

I don't think houses have souls. They aren't sentient beings.

But that doesn't lessen their impact on your feelings and emotions. On occasion, I've cried happy tears because it's so nice to be back home.

Of course homes have a vibe. The light, shadows, colors, etc. But I wouldn't say they can interact.

If I can draw a distinction, I don't think a house has a soul. The soul of the house comes from those who live there. I remember our winters checking up on our parents' homes while they were away and how empty and soulless they were without the sounds, smells, heat and light that human life gives a place.

But a house or a building can have a spirit. Houses can be cozy, energetic, sad, old, tired, grand, elegant, cute, ugly, massive, petite, friendly, imposing, etc. And within a house, some rooms can have a distinct spirit...relaxing, energetic, playful, comfortable, cold, strict, utilitarian, etc....the energy that it gives to or creates in the inhabitant.

A soul cannot be changed, but a room or a house rehab can certainly change the spirit of a house.

Yes -- indeed -- Annie is so right -- houses literally have spirits. (and some do have ghosts -- of all sorts and kinds -- no matter what age it happens to be ....)

Have you been in a house where -- no matter what age it is -- or how it is decorated or not (as the case may be) -- you have felt uncomfortable/creepy???? Or -- on the other hand -- stepped into a warm, welcoming, charming home???

Have you not seen the whole and magical change when a house is changed into a home? Sometimes by paint, lighting and décor and gardens -- and sometimes simply by the attitudes of its own people??? I have felt real sadness in some neglected places .. and am moved to tears by photos of abandoned homes ....

A favorite quote:

Samuel Clemens (MarkTwain):

"Our house was not unsentient matter -- it has a heart and a soul, and eyes to see with; and approvals and solicitudes and deep sympathies; it was of us, and we were in its confidence and lived in its grace and in the peace of its benedictions. We never came home from an absence that its face did not light up and speak out in eloquent welcome - and we could not enter it unmoved."

Oh my, teacats the quote from Samuel Clemens moved me to tears. I feel that warm welcoming hug from our home's spirit but we who live there give it soul.

I have lived in my share of homes but I have to say that our current home is where I have feel the most at one with. That sense though is newfound as I lived with the po decorating choices and kitchen for way too many years. Now when I walk into our home I feel like it exudes my taste and suits me almost perfectly including it's few awkward spaces and oddities.

What a great post. I think this is going to be my all time favorite!

BLfenton, I had to LOL at your comment about off gassing!

I agree with holly-kay. We who live there give it soul. I loved the quote from Samuel Clemens, teacats. I've never heard it before.

That's a lovely quote. I don't think Twain was speaking literally about his house--but about the feelings it stirred in him. (OT: Or, maybe he was being literal. I have an aunt who is dealing with Dementia with Lewy bodies, and that has given me a whole new opinion of the 'spirit' world.)

To me, a spirit and a soul are one and the same, and an inanimate object--no matter how beautiful and/or well-loved--does not possess one. Maybe 'ambience' is what is meant by spirit, in some of the above posts. Inhabitants give a house it's warmth, life, and energy--not the other way around, and since we are all so different, that ambience is subjective. I've posted about how cozy I feel in my earth-tone living room, in the late afternoon sun, while someone else posted something to the effect of "... earth-tones ... snooze." To them, my house would have a very tired, old 'soul'.

Yes, a dark, damp, cluttered, dirty house can certainly bring me down, but if I clean, paint, and refresh, then I can change the feel of a space. I can add a window or knock out a wall, but I'm the one affecting the change.

This is an interesting thread, and I embrace everyone's opinion. I'm adding a link to another interesting thread from the Old House forum--I enjoyed reading that one, too.

blfenton, rofl!

Here is a link that might be useful: Do you believe some houses have bad energy?

No.

What we built has become part of a very alive world, however. Birds hide from hawks on our side porch, at least 2 or 3 nests of babies fledge from there each summer and come back with many others to sun themselves on the roof ridge when the sun rises. Squirrels are able to jump over and dine with the birds from trees that are finally large and close enough. It provides almost unlimited spots for bees to build nests, and no doubt enough wood to keep termites well fed for decades. Our tomcat keeps lazy watch from under the front porch, and a turtle lives under there too. Deer stroll down to our middle terrace each evening on the way to or from the lake to chew on the lily seed pods I haven't harvested and get whatever figs the possoms haven't taken care of yet.

Ferns and other plants hide from the sun in its shade and have found the moisture they like under runoff from its roof, mint has its place under a dripping faucet, those fig trees survive the winter in its warmth, and vines are growing very happily on the wires we installed just for them.

And, of course, we, ourselves, are always glad to return home to our special place.

I don't believe my house is 'alive' without humans in it.

However, the prior owner believed the house had a spirit that needed to be honored. It was built in the 1880s and she was very conscious about paying homage to its times, and wanted to make sure DH and I would be owners who would respect its age. (No problem). THEN she told us that the first violation of the spirit of the house was when indoor plumbing was installed in the 1920s.

Oh.

(Needless to say, she'd be appalled at our replacement of the old steam-heating system, not to mention our new central air.)

Many thanks for posting the link to that thread on the Old House forum -- what a fascinating discussion! :) Interesting insights and points of view -- and GREAT stories!! :)

And our house (facing south and looks onto a greenbelt) is on Lot 13, Block 13 on Cemetery Hill.

As for smudging -- I do use my own sage and rosemary in basic kitchen deeds (and keep a few sprigs in a small glass of water) -- and of course -- candles, salt and incense .... sometimes the atmosphere just gets sticky -- and a good cleansing (and cleaning) always helps!

Mine possesses the power to drain my bank account. No joke.

This post was edited by dominoswrath on Wed, Nov 6, 13 at 23:38

hhireno, I believe it's the people that occupy a home that give it a feeling of "being" and not the house itself. Houses are creations of man, not God, therefore they have no souls.

Mine is sort of like a Venus Flytrap.

No, but it is becoming a character in our daily lives. I dreamed of some of its details as a child and my husband and I spent years on our property planning it, two years now to build, and every inch was designed by us, so it features and spaces are very important to us. I want it to exude the feeling of an old soul once it's all put together and finished.