Well, I mean, who knows how the house was kept before we moved in.
-- Hendrik (chapter 1)

Importance: Isabel confronts Hendrik after she finds the broken hare plate in the garden. Hendrik suggests that one of the previous owners could have buried the china there, as the house was furnished when they moved in. Hendrik's remarks gesture towards the house's mysterious past and therefore foreshadow the revelations about its previous owners and their fates during the war.

It was enough. If she could keep it, it would be enough.
-- Narrator (chapter 2)

Importance: Isabel's attachment to the family house is inspired by her longing for safety, security, and stability. She is desperate to someday receive the deed to the house, because she feels as if she has nothing else in life and no other way to prove her worth. The house is both an extension of her character and a representation of her future.

Gosh. Don't you get...
-- Eva (chapter 3)