The House of the Seven Gables, a fixture in Hawthorne's Salem, serves as the ancestral home of the fictional Pyncheon family;whose distinguished legacy is tainted by pious thievery. When country cousin Phoebe arrives at the house, she is like a cool breeze, refreshing a room that has been sealed for too long. The resulting mixture of dark and light imagery, illustrated by Hawthorne's rich prose, makes this romance an important American classic.