The sale notice

An original fiction passage set in the nineteenth century.

Peter knew every mark on the front door. The scratch below the handle came from his bicycle; the pale patch near the step was where his mother’s flowerpot had stood. Now a printed notice covered the centre panel. He read the words FOR SALE twice. They were larger than any name the house had ever carried.

Inside, visitors moved from room to room with notebooks. One tapped the wall and another measured the window. Peter heard the kitchen described as narrow and the garden as manageable. These were not the words his family used. He went upstairs and shut his bedroom door. For the first time, he noticed that the handle belonged to the house rather than to him.

Analyse how the writer uses language and structure to show how the house becomes unfamiliar to Peter. Support your answer with references to the passage.