The story “The Old Age House” was first published in the collection “Fables,” published in 1900, after Stevenson’s death. The idea for such a collection came to Stevenson in 1887–1888, but after moving to Samoa the writer was never able to implement it. He defined the genre of fable extremely broadly - as a combination of elements of a dream story with a moralizing allegory - and attributed to it such works as Willy of the Mill, Markheim, and even The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. Perhaps Stevenson wrote the parable about the House of Old Age, tormented by doubts about acute and painful disputes with his father about religion.

“The House of Old Age” was translated specifically for the January issue of “The World of Fantasy.” This is the first publication of the story in Russian.