Greenglass House

**Greenglass House** is an old ramshackle manor in Nagspeake that stands high on Whilforber Hill. The house was built for Lucy and Liao Bluecrowne, but they did not end up living in it.

Currently, it is the home of Ben, Nora, and Milo Pine, who have opened it to visitors as an inn. Prior to the Pines it belonged to Doc Holystone. Because of this, smugglers frequent the inn.

The inn was originally called **Bluecrowne House**, then **Lansdegown House** in order to honor Liao and Xiaoming. Later, it was called Greenglass House due to the amount of stained glass windows in the house (a frequent attraction to visitors), which are mostly green.

## History

### *Bluecrowne*

Captain Bluecrowne showed the house to his daughter Lucy, who thought it a fine house, but hated it because it was a house and not a ship. The house looked out over the Skidwrack River, Lucy noted, and she commented on how odd the house looked. It was too big for Lucy's liking, and it had a lot of stained glass windows. There was a red stone outbuilding outside which was to be Liao's fireworks workshop. When Lucy woke up the next morning, she disliked how big it was and its unfamiliar creaks.

She sat on the porch to eat breakfast, joined by Xiaoming, who advised her to try to accept the change and make the house more homelike even though it wasn't a ship. Lucy declared that she needed her own cutter, and Xiaoming obliged. Later, Lucy realized that her father had built different parts of the house to resemble different places she'd stayed, like the windowseat was from a house in Malta and the shape of the upper floors like a house in Riga. Liao found things he recognized, too. Lucy declared that they should give the house a name, and they decided that Liao would translate 'blue crown' into Chinese, and thought that would make it truly their house. Lucy's cutter, the *Driven Star,* was moored at the little dock at the bottom of the hill, and Lucy descended the many stairs to work on it. She later returned to the house to eat with her father and a visitor, Nell Levinflash.

Trigemine and Blister visited as planned, Blister coming to teach Liao a specific firework. But Liao's workshop exploded and Liao was not to be found. Trigemine informed Lucy that Blister had taken Liao, and Lucy worked to get him back, returning to the house and going with Xiaoming. After the battle, Garvett gave Lucy a new ditty bag he and Kendrick had made for her, with the house embroidered on it. Lucy and Liao returned to the house one last time (Xiaoming had been unbodied in the fight, so they were to live aboard ship), and mourned Xiaoming. They left the key they had meant for her inside the house.

### *Greenglass House*

**Meddy**: Why?

**Milo**: Well, because. I mean... this is my *house* we're talking about. Don't you think that's weird? I mean, yes, it used to be Doc Holystone's house too, but the day before yesterday I was just sitting here doing *math homework.*

— *Greenglass House*, pg. 222 |  | ”

A series of guests arrived to Greenglass House over winter break, much to Milo Pine's surprise, as there were almost never any guests at the inn that time of year. It soon became clear that each was searching for something. When Milo found a mysterious nautical chart, Meddy deemed that they should go searching for its meaning, and suggested that perhaps there was a secret treasure at the inn. The two began to investigate the nautical chart, noticing a gate watermark which they found hidden in several of Greenglass House's windows. Milo recalled that the previous owner of the house had been Doc Holystone. Milo noted that his mother's parents had bought it when Mrs. Pine was young, and the house had become an inn mostly for smugglers because of Doc Holystone. They then explored the attic and discovered several items that they liked.

Mrs. Hereward told a story of Julian Roamer, which led Milo and Meddy to believe that she was at Greenglass House to search for one of Julian's relics. At Clem's request, Mrs. Pine told a story about Greenglass House, in which Fenster Plum saw the ghosts of Doc Holystone and his son. Clem and Georgie both seemed to think Milo knew the meaning of the word "Lansdegown", though he didn't, and Milo wondered if it had something to do with the house. Meddy then noticed, and pointed out to Milo, a depiction of Greenglass House stitched onto Mrs. Hereward's bag.

The next morning, three of the guests were stolen from. Milo found that Mrs. Hereward's and Georgie's missing things each had to do with Greenglass House. Mrs. Hereward, additionally, revealed that Greenglass House had been built for one of her ancestors. Milo searched the house for the three things, and discovered each one somewhere in the house. When Milo returned the things, he asked Mrs. Hereward what the Chinese symbols on both the keys he'd found in the attic and the door stitched onto Mrs. Hereward's bag meant. She told him that it was the original name of Greenglass House, Lansdegown.

When they heard a noise outside, Georgie, Milo, and his father went out to investigate, and Milo eventually joined his dad at one of the outbuildings. He noted that the outbuildings had been there when the land around Greenglass House had belonged to the monastery at the top of Whilforber Hill. One of them was a hidden entrance to the Belowground Transit System, not as abandoned as it was thought, and Brandon Levi and Fenster Plum joined the guests at Greenglass House.

The power then went out to Greenglass House. Milo was able to calm the panicked Mrs. Hereward and Dr. Gowervine, making them help him set out candles and bring in the firewood. Guests helped set out lanterns around the house, while Mr. Pine and Brandon began to work on starting the generator. Mrs. Pine assured the guests that the house, though old and drafty, would keep the heat in for a while.

Georgie told the reason she and Clem had come to Greenglass House. They had both fallen in love with Owen, the guest who had just arrived. Since he had been adopted and not known anything about his birth parents, they wanted to give him a gift in the form of that knowledge. His middle name was Lansdegown, and Georgie had discovered that this was the name of a house. Georgie had created a decoy of the chart she'd found, but had put the same watermark on it as the real one, and Clem had found Greenglass House through the gate watermark.

Dr. Gowervine told a story about Lowell Skellansen, a famous glassmaker. None of Greenglass House's windows were Skellansen's work, he knew, but Milo perceived that Dr. Gowervine was hunting for the plans for a window of Skellansen's, which somehow told the truth about Doc Holystone's death. Mr. Pine, Brandon, and Fenster then came in to report that the generator had been sabotaged. They and Mrs. Pine worked to keep the house warm, the food cold, and the guests comfortable. Milo and Meddy felt triumphant that they'd found out why Georgie, Clem, and Mrs. Hereward had come to Greenglass House, and Milo thought Dr. Gowervine's tale told why Dr. Gowervine was there too.

Milo found in the attic a lantern, and deemed that it had belonged to Julian Roamer and was what Mrs. Hereward was seeking. In the night, he heard someone sneaking around, but did not see who it was. When Milo woke up in the morning, he gifted the lantern to Mrs. Hereward, much to her delight. Mr. Pine, Brandon, and Fenster then managed to fix the generator, and power came back on to Greenglass House.

Milo and Georgie convinced Mrs. Hereward to tell Owen what she knew about Owen's heritage. Mrs. Hereward explained how the children for whom the house was built, Lucy and Liao Bluecrowne, had translated the name "Bluecrowne" into Mandarin to include the Chinese branch of the family, and Lucy had written it down phonetically as "Lansdegown", hence the house's name.

Dr. Gowervine's satchel then went missing. Milo had wondered about the gate. According to Clem's information, it had stood in a clearing in the trees. Milo thought he knew where that could be, guessing that part of the slope had collapsed, and when the gate had stood there it had not been a sharp cliff. Milo and Meddy then went to search for Dr. Gowervine's satchel, but were locked in to an empty room on the fourth floor. After banging the luggage rack on the fire escape to grab someone's attention, they were let out, and Milo, figuring that they were close to something the thief did not want them to find, discovered under the rug in Georgie's old room a paper declaring its bearer to be a customs agent.

Milo went out to the garden at Greenglass House and got a better look at where the gate could have been. He then went over clues with Meddy again, and realized that each of the stolen things had to do with Greenglass House and why the guests had come there, except one. He deemed that Mr. Vinge was the customs agent, and told his parents so. Milo and his father went sledding. While searching for the sleds, Milo found a piece of the gate in the shed. He and Meddy were both delighted.

Mr. Vinge then told a story in which he painted Doc Holystone as a criminal, a weapons-smuggler, and a danger to society. He told how an agent, following a watermark with a gate on it, had found Greenglass House and captured the smuggler. Mr. Vinge was convinced that Doc Holystone's final cargo was at Greenglass House, feeling that Doc Holystone's legacy was "alive and well" at the house. When Mr. Vinge pulled out a gun and two of his thugs burst through the front door, Milo, at Meddy's instruction, ran for the Emporium, and she with him.

While they were in the Emporium, Milo noticed how oddly Meddy had been acting. She revealed that she was not Meddy Caraway, but the ghost of Doc Holystone's daughter, Addie Whitcher. She told how she and her father had both died, he falling off the cliff while running from Mr. Vinge, and she falling off the fire escape while listening to Mr. Vinge to figure out if her father was still alive. She had returned to the house as a ghost because she felt something wrong in the house (she now realized it to be Mr. Vinge) and she could feel the seeking in the house.

Meddy (she still wanted Milo to call her that) said that they needed Mr. Vinge to leave. Meddy was certain that Milo, who had found so many things, could find Doc Holystone's final cargo. She brought him a catalog of Skellansen's work and a photo that looked like doodles on a foggy window from Dr. Gowervine's satchel, and he took out the nautical chart. Milo eventually realized that the cargo was hidden in the ship chandelier in his dining room, which was presumably a work of Skellansen. Inside the chandelier, Milo found the Sirin figurine, a carved scholiast figure that Doc Holystone had made for Meddy.

Mr. Vinge was going to take the Sirin figurine and destroy it so it could not be found, but Milo stopped him, feeling Meddy should have it. Mr. Vinge threatened to use his gun, but Meddy appeared to him then, took the gun, grew giant, and screamed at Mr. Vinge with such rage that Mr. Vinge left. After Meddy sent Mr. Vinge's coat after Mr. Vinge and it tackled him, the other customs agents left too.

Meddy was introduced to all the guests and the Pines invited her to stay. Milo then went back up into the chandelier and discovered something else: the plan for Skellansen's window about Doc Holystone. Dr. Gowervine was allowed to borrow it. The guests then all left, some by way of the ferry and others on the Belowground Transit System. Meddy left too. This left the Pines alone in the house for Christmas Eve, and to Milo's delight the Pines' Christmas traditions began as normal.

### *Ghosts of Greenglass House*

**Ben Pine**: Milo, there is nothing *but* weird going on in the house tonight. Whether it's something more than just a bunch of random incidents, though... I honestly don't know.

— *Ghosts of Greenglass House*, pg. 122 |  | ”

Milo recalled the previous winter break, one of the strangest experiences in his life, and the discovery of Skellansen's cartoon. This had brought Emmett Syebuck to the inn, to see the windows and chandelier, and Emmett stayed longer that Milo wished, excited about all of the house's windows. Milo was upset about difficulties in his social studies class, where his teacher, Mr. Chancelor, had not believed him about Liao Bluecrowne being Chinese and having lived in Nagspeake before other Chinese crews had arrived. Milo wanted Mr. Chancelor to understand that he was right about the Bluecrownes having built Greenglass House.

The bell rang, to everyone's surprise. Milo noted that this was not the bell for the *Whilforber Whirlwind* but to indicated that someone was arriving via the Belowground Transit System. Brandon Levi had indeed come, bringing Georgie and Clem with him. Milo hoped that this would cause Meddy to return, recalling their Odd Trails campaign in the house. Milo could tell that something had happened to Clem and Georgie, and while he knew that questions were not usually asked of the house's guests, he very much wanted to know why they were hiding out there. Clem and Georgie pretended they were only there for a bachelorette weekend, because it had been where Clem and Owen had gotten together. They eventually explained about their heist for Violet Cross's haul, which had gone wrong.

The Waits came to Greenglass House, and Milo recalled the previous time they had come, when he had been younger. The Waits were invited in to warm up, and the inn filled up. Marzana was interested in the house's windows. Later, she and Mrs. Kirkegrim were mysteriously hit on the heads, and Mrs. Pine wondered if there was another ghost in Greenglass House. Milo tried to get the guests to tell stories, but it did not work, and Milo went outside to take a break. While outside, he wondered what was wrong in the house, and then met the ghost of Doc Holystone, who he noted had once owned the house. Doc Holystone could not enter the house, but spoke to Milo while on the grounds. Milo returned to the house, and his father agreed that something weird was going on, and thought that no one could be in the house without their knowing.

Meddy returned to Greenglass House. Milo asked if she felt something wrong, and she realized that she did, deeming that it was Milo, who was miserable. They went to the attic and formulated an Odd Trails character for Milo. They then went down and talked to Clem and Georgie, who revealed that the Violet Cross haul had been stolen from them. Milo and Meddy went over the clues about each guest, wondering how Marzana knew about the house. Milo went outside to speak with the ghost of Doc Holystone again, since Meddy could not leave the house. Doc and Meddy could not see each other.

Milo wondered where the thief could have hidden the haul so that Clem and Georgie could not get at it. He realized that it must be in Clem and Georgie's rooms, and after searching Georgie's room, half of it was discovered. He later found Clem and Georgie searching the whole house, including the other guests' rooms. At Marzana's request, Milo told her about his favorite windows. She noted that she had heard about Greenglass House from her mother. The Waits all agreed that they should leave, but could not go.

Owen provided Milo with Liao's letters, to show Mr. Chancelor so that he would believe Milo about Greenglass House. Dr. Gowervine then called on the phone, causing Milo to confront Emmett Syebuck with the knowledge that Emmett was not as advertised. Emmett admitted that he was a customs agent, and there because of Mr. Vinge. However, Emmett was not like Mr. Vinge, and insisted that letting smugglers stay at Greenglass House was not a crime. Emmett planned to report back to the customs department and tell them that Greenglass House was not an issue.

Emmett attempted to detain the Waits until the last things were found, but Mrs. Kirkegrim pointed out that he did not have that authority, and left. Milo realized she knew she could still get the things, and, realizing where they were, recovered the keys. Milo, not wearing a coat, began to get cold and had trouble finding his way back to the house. Mr. Vinge and Gilawfer showed up, but the hobby horse saved Milo, and he and Mrs. Kirkegrim returned to Greenglass House.

Milo explained what had happened, recounting how Mrs. Kirkegrim had gotten the keys out of the house. He realized that Mrs. Kirkegrim was Violet Cross, and everyone examined the haul. The Waits then left, with Violet Cross taking a keepsake for her daughter (revealed to be Marzana). Emmett (taking Rob with him), Georgie, Clem, and Owen went too. Greenglass House grew quiet, with only the Pines and Meddy in it. Milo figured out a way to get Meddy out of the house to Doc Holystone, and succeeded, to Meddy's delight.

### *The Thief Knot*

When Emmett arrived, Marzana was excited because he was from Greenglass House, where she'd had a real adventure. Mrs. Hakelbarend mentioned how things had gone wrong at Greenglass House, when Milo had been threatened. Marzana mentioned a few times the adventure she'd had at Greenglass House and the people she had met there. Meddy mentioned being tied to Greenglass House, and how she and Milo had figured out a way to get her out of the house. When learning about the Belowground Transit stations, Meddy identified Sanctuary Cliff to be the one behind Greenglass House.

## Physical characteristics

Greenglass House is described as appearing to be an amalgamation of many different mansions. It is taller than it is wide; with five floors, a basement, and an attic. It can be quite creaky and drafty. Greenglass House is named for its many green stained-glass windows, of which it is full. These have been an attraction at Greenglass House, some thought to have been created by the famous glassmaker Ellamae Wellshowe, and others, the Gate Windows, with a gate hidden in them. Greenglass House has vast grounds with pine trees and outbuildings scattered among them.

## Locations

### Stained-Glass Windows

The windows came from a house in the English countryside that belonged to the Bluecrownes. Greenglass House is named for its windows, and while Greenglass House's guests are often curious about the windows, some guests have come to the house simply to look at them. Emmett Syebuck believed some of them to have been made by Ellamae Wellshowe, who had probably actually been in the house due to her tendency to create windows to be complimented in certain lights. On the fifth floor of Greenglass House, in one of the guest rooms, resides a green enameled glass window, the only one with color applied to it, which seemed to be popular among the guests. On each landing in the stairwell resides one large window, which Milo Pine dubbed the Gate Windows due to the hidden presence of a gate in each one. Most windows in the house are mostly green, though one, the window on the fourth floor, is known to be nearly all blue. The chandelier in the dining room was discovered to have been made by Lowell Skellansen. It was the secret hiding place of both the Sirin figurine and the cartoon for Skellansen's window featuring Doc Holystone.

#### Gate Windows

After Milo found the nautical chart and it was then stolen from him, he noticed the same watermark on the nautical chart and the decoy that had been left in its place. Meddy asked if Milo had seen the gate anywhere else, and he realized that he had. Milo led her to the fourth-floor window, made up of many different blues. They saw how the metal that held the glass together formed a gate. Milo, knowing that the windows on the stairs were a set, wondered if the gate was hidden in each one. Meddy found the gate in the fifth-floor window, small and down in the corner, underneath what Milo thought was fireworks. Milo noted that it was in the second-floor one as well. When Milo found half of the gate in the storage outbuilding, he told his father that the gate was on each window in the stairwell, and promised to show Mr. Pine, musing that he himself hadn't found it either before he saw the watermark. Milo later began to think of them as the Gate Windows, and noted that they were the oldest of the inn's stained glass windows.

### Outbuildings

One red outbuilding was Liao's workshop, but it was blown up by Blister, leaving only rubble, and was presumably gotten rid of later. Milo noted that the outbuildings were very old. One of them Milo had turned into a fort, one had a spring in it, and one the Pines used for storage. Another outbuilding was the camouflaged entrance to a Belowground Transit station. When Brandon and Fenster arrived at Greenglass House, Brandon kicked the door down, which had been frozen shut, and they exited the station and came to Greenglass House. When Mr. Vinge's thugs arrived, Milo wondered if they had been hiding out in one of the old outbuildings. Brandon later gave several guests rides on the Belowground, and they exited via the Sanctuary Cliff station. The next year, Brandon brought Georgie and Clem to Greenglass House via the station. Marzana and Mr. Hakelbarend stashed the hobby horse things in Milo's old fort.

## Inhabitants

Residents

* Xiaoming (formerly)
* Lucy Bluecrowne (formerly)
* Liao Bluecrowne (formerly)
* Doc Holystone (formerly)
* Addie Whitcher
* Nora Pine
* Ben Pine
* Milo Pine

Known Guests

* Odette Caraway (frequently)
* Brandon Levi (frequently)
* Fenster Plum (frequently)
* Lizzie Caraway
* De Cary Vinge
* Georgie Moselle
* Eglantine Hereward
* Wilbur Gowervine
* Clem Candler
* Owen
* Emmett Syebuck
* Rupert Gandreider
* Lucia Julnissen
* Sylvester Alforn
* Violet Cross
* Nicholas Larven
* Peter Hakelbarend
* Marzana Hakelbarend

## Trivia

* Greenglass House's name comes from the green stained glass around the edifice.
* Greenglass House was also called Bluecrowne House when the Bluecrownes lived in it, but was then called Lansdegown House after Liao translated "blue crown" into Mandarin Chinese and Lucy wrote it down phonetically. This led to Clem and Georgie coming to Greenglass House, seeking what "Lansdegown" meant.

## Gallery

**Take a look at our **gallery for Greenglass House****.