The Shunned House of the title is based on an actual house in Providence, Rhode Island, built around 1763 and still standing at 135 Benefit Street; Lovecraft was familiar with the house because his aunt, Lillian Clark, lived there in 1919-20 as a companion to Mrs. H. C. Babbit.But it was another house in Elizabeth, New Jersey that actually provoked Lovecraft to write the story.For many years, the protagonist and his uncle, Dr. Elihu Whipple, have...