There is no place like home: Complexities in exploring home and place attachment

Home is a key aspect of place attachment literature and research. However, research on place attachment and home often becomes problematic due to the complexities of home as a concept and, particularly, the conflation of home ownership and home. This paper attempts to disentangle the relationship between home ownership and place attachment drawing on a unique data set. Qualitative data are drawn from in-depth interviews with participants from communes in Southern Colorado. The results highlight how place attachment, particularly feelings of at-homeness, is not synonymous with home ownership. Therefore researchers should be cautious of equating home, home ownership, and place attachment.