With the coming of the 20th century, the house was in decline-soon to be broken into apartments and shops, including a cafe serving the increasingly poorer passing trade. For Public Health Inspector Jonathan Roper it was a disgrace that should be demolished without further ado. But whether they loved it or hated it, the the Old Vine had affected every person who came into contact with it. Their stories were woven into the houses timber, bricks and mortar; the ghosts of love, hate, jealousy, deceit and murder haunted it-and when the very fabric of the house itself was threatened, the battle for its survival must commence.