The House on Christopher Street

Mort and Rose live in the downstairs of the house on Christopher Street, while Abe and Helen live upstairs. The brothers bought the large house for a good price, but the families outgrew the house once there were nine children between the two households. The house seems fairly typical of large houses of the time and place. The street is busy and the families can hear traffic passing by, even at night. Rose complains at one point about hearing Helen's older four sons stomping around and Helen admits to worrying that the boys will someday break through their floor to end up in Rose's part of the house. The two sections have their own entrances and their own keys, though each family has keys for both. The attitudes about the house change over time, mainly because of Rose's changing attitude about Teddy and Natalie...