Symbol of the House

In Julio Cortazar’s “House Taken Over,” the house was a symbol of a place where the Irene and the narrator have everything they wanted and the house was the only place that can make them satisfied and happy. When the narrator said that half of the house was occupied, it symbolizes how freedom can be limited gradually, just like how the house was being occupied slowly. They started out with full control of the house, then it become half, then one room left, and then at last they have to leave the house and go somewhere else. The story itself is really weird and I think there must be some kind of symbol inside the story. I am curious and suspicious that the house might not even be Irene’s or the narrator’s. They probably stole the house and lived in there temporary until the owner of the house comes back. What I am guessing is that it is not their house and after they left the house, they had to go to another empty house to stay in temporary until the owner of “that” house comes back. I don’t really think it is the ghosts that are occupying the house.