The Dutch House is the central setting and symbol of the novel. It symbolizes wealth and the burden of the past. The house is the source of the novel’s title because it encapsulates several important themes of the novel, namely because the wealth the house represents is no bar to the unhappiness of its inhabitants. The original inhabitants of the house are the VanHoebeeks, people of Dutch descent who made their fortune from selling cigarettes to World War I soldiers. Although this wealth should have insulated the VanHoebeeks from difficulties, they lived miserable lives—their children died, they lost their fortune in the Great Depression, and the last survivor, Mrs. VanHoebeek, died with only Fluffy to take care of her.

The wealth required to purchase the house also brings unhappiness to Cyril and Elna. This pattern continues for Danny and Maeve when Andrea is attracted to what the house represents but not the children who come with the house. Danny and Maeve’s years-long obsession with returning to the edges of the house is a burden of memory that prevents them from building happy lives for themselves. The house’s final iteration—the site of Elna’s caretaking for Andrea and May’s triumph as a famous actor—also shows that it takes extraordinary acts and will to overcome the power of the past over one’s life.