The Fosters' house was referred to as the touch-me-not cottage. Everything was so neat and clean and organized that it did not look lived in. It was more like an advertisement for a furniture company. The house matched the Fosters' cold, sterile personalities. There was no warmth nor visible love in the house.

By contrast, the Tucks' home had a shabby, run-down, much used and loved to death feel, like a worn out teddy bear passed down from generation to generation. The furniture was faded and saggy or broken. A mouse lived and ate the crumbs left in the kitchen drawer for it. The house was not regularly cleaned and dusted. It was a lived in sort of place. The Tucks, because of their immortality and poverty-stricken economic status could not go out and buy new things. They moved frequently and took everything with them. So, it was old and battered. However, the Tucks' loving spirit and down-to-earth homeyness fit in with the furnishings just fine.