Coldfield House in Absalom, Absalom! (Location)

The Coldfield house in Jefferson is small, with "two storeys" (6). During Rosa's childhood it was a "dim grim tight little house" (55), but doubtless well-maintained, with its "brick walk" (36) and "small, grimly middleclass yard or lawn" (15). By 1909, when Quentin spends an afternoon with her in the "dim hot airless room" that she calls the "office because her father called it that" (3), the house is "unpainted and a little shabby" (6). It began falling into decay after Mr. Coldfield nailed himself into the attic in 1861; by 1865, although there is still a "carriage" in the "barn" in the back, there is no horse to pull it (15).