stranger with a "gruff voice" calls out to Tom Walker, he is not intimidated by the "great black man" who appears before him, "begrimed with soot" and carrying an ax, despite his having recognized this strange being as "Old Scratch."

One would think that to meet with such a singular personage, in this wild, lonely place . . . would have shaken any man's nerves, but Tom was a hard-minded fellow. . . .

Later, when Mrs. Walker learns of Tom's encounter with Old Scratch, the stingy woman decides to "drive the bargain on her own account" in order to keep the riches all for herself. But, she does not fare well against the cunning Old Scratch. 

After Tom strikes his own bargain with the Devil, he becomes a usurer. When difficult times hit many of the residents of the town, Tom made loans to his advantage:

He always exacted good pay and good security. In proportion to the distress of the applicant was the hardness of his terms. He accumulated bonds and mortgages; [he] gradually squeezed his customers closer and closer, and sent them at length, dry as a sponge, from his door. 

The reader can almost picture these people resembling Walker's "miserable horse." In fact, his "vast house" that Walker purchases after becoming a "rich and mighty" man is ostentatious only on the exterior. Inside, his characteristic parsimony is demonstrated as there are no lavish furnishings. Furthermore, he still neglects his livestock: his carriage horses are nearly starved and the wheels of the wagon are without grease, causing them to make a horrible screeching sound.

From the description of the condition of the Walkers' home and horse it is clear that they are a cruel and miserly pair. The narrator notes that, "They lived in a forlorn looking house, that stood alone and had an air of starvation." The narrator's choice of the word starvation is particularly notable because it indicates an incredible level of miserliness that the couple exude. This same miserliness is reflected in the horrible condition which they keep their horse in: "A miserable horse, whose ribs were as articulate as the bars of a gridiron."  This suggests that the horse is starved to the extent that its ribs are evident and its life is impoverished due its terrible condition.  Throughout the rest of the story the Walkers live up to what we expect from such a description. While Mrs. Walker disappears with their silverware, which she intends to use in a trade with the devil, Mr. Walker discovers that she has gone missing and goes out more in search of the silverware than his own wife. Mr. Walker further confirms his penuriousness by trading his soul for treasure and becoming a usurer. In fact, even after becoming incredibly wealthy, Mr. Walker is so stingy that he only finishes the outside of his house, leaving the inside unfinished and without furniture.

When Irving describes the Walkers' dwelling-place, he's not just doing it for effect; he's telling us something about the people who live inside it. Earlier on in the story, he told us that both Tom and his wife are "miserly," and his subsequent description of their house reinforces that characterization.

We are told that the Walker residence is "forlorn-looking," meaning that it has a pitifully sad, abandoned look about it. Though two people actually live there, it's so run-down that any casual passerby could be forgiven for thinking that it was abandoned property.

Not that many casual passersby ever enter the vicinity of the Walkers' house, however. For as well as being "forlorn-looking," it also stands alone, far away from any other property. Mr. and Mrs. Walker aren't a neighborly couple—they clearly don't like other people and don't want to live anywhere near them.

For good measure, the house has an "air of starvation" about it, the implication being that this is the kind of property normally associated with the unfortunate inhabitants of villages decimated by famine. Tom and his wife aren't starving, of course, but because they're so miserly, their house looks as if it's inhabited by those who are.

Washington Irving's satire on the religious hypocrisy and the avarice of the Puritans has the main character Tom Walker enter into a contract with the 
Devil in return for a fortune. As part of the pact, Tom must agree to be either a slave trader or a usurer; Tom has qualms about selling slaves, so he agrees to be a usurer.  In time, Tom Walker's reputation becomes legendary,

...Tom was the universal friend of the needy, and acted like a "friend in need"; that is to say, he always exacted good pay and good security.

Tom was very miserly and "squeezed his customers." With his wealth, he built a huge house in order to show it off and let people know he was wealthy, but his "parsimony" would not allow him to furnish the house as it should have been. Again, to impress the town, Tom has a carriage, but he nearly starves the horses because he is so greedy. Further, he is so cheap that he does not grease the wheels of the carriage, so the carriage makes a terrible racket as it goes down the street

You would have thought you heard the souls of the poor debtors he was squeezing.

Clearly, the house and carriage reflect the personality of Tom Walker, for he is proud of his wealth, but he is also too parsimonious to maintain the luxurious appearance of what he purchases and instead lets it deteriorate, just as his soul has deteriorated in his sin of greed.