“Seth material” search engine (Jane Roberts)

More than that, however, as far as you are both personally concerned, you have a built-in sense of distance that gives the house actually an extra dimension of privacy that is not within the grounds themselves, yet adds to that aura. The house is set itself atop its own knoll, which to Ruburt at least gives a fortress feeling, in that he can look down and see who is coming.

The private-type yards, the house on its own knoll, say clearly “We are not neighborhood barbecue people.” There is not an easy access from house to house. People who relate in a cozy, more or less openhearted way with their neighbors like adjoining patios. They may put up a screen for privacy, but all in all they prefer more or less constant neighborly give-and-take.

There are points to be considered also in the Levine affair, for our bemused Dr. Levine would cut out all of nature, you think, if he had the chance, and as Ruburt said, sterilize the neighborhood. His response there was excellent for him, as you said. You both do need privacy for your work and because of your natures, but if you try to find a home with no dogs or children within miles, then in another way you are doing what Sam Levine is trying to do, only in your own way. To you, far more acceptable, of course, than his way.

This does not mean you need children in the house next door. It does mean that you settle for a reasonable amount of privacy, but that you do not carry the idea to extremes. If the sound of children’s voices, or dogs, even in the distance, annoys you, then you are doing a Dr. Levine in your own ways.

Give us a moment.... The people who have lived in the Foster Street house, and the hill house, have to some extent already conditioned the rest of the neighbors in a certain way. There are alliances and understandings in neighborhoods—signs for others to read. The little house on Cobbles East also has its own aura of privacy that no garage on the other side can disturb.

Even you, however, will feel more secure with a place of your own than you would with the money drawing interest in the bank. It is a different kind of security. Your daily environment is very important to your work, and to Ruburt. The money in the bank is helpful, but if your daily environment is not conducive to your work and peace of mind, then the money security is meaningless. You will have plenty plus your house. An expensive house as such is not required. Your own ideas however of privacy and so forth in your society requires a certain amount of cash. There is nothing wrong for example with the south side. You also possess an esthetic sense, however. You require certain things of your art, and therefore you want the same things in your environment. Once you had it here, for all of your criticism. Now it is gone, and you are different.

The Foster house represents many things, and though it is not on a hill it represents your feelings of secrecy and privacy. The windows do not open. It is dark, yet it is large, and in its way elegant. You can go along with the house as it is, and become more secretive. You can hide in it better than you can in the hill house.

The hill house is protected. It has some privacy. It does not have secrecy, and while you have a view you cannot hide in it. It is too contemporary.

It will automatically tempt him to walk about. The two levels of the house are good. The stairs will be a part of living. There is privacy, but it is tempered by the open air of the hill, yet still the distance is maintained that is necessary for each of you. It is not claustrophobic privacy.

The sunny nature and the open quality—regardless of what Ruburt thinks now, will help him creatively and physically—but the house represents a decision to face the world, while maintaining certain necessary and quite reasonable conditions. It provides privacy yet openness.