Homes
He thought his life should be like a house. After all, who wouldn't want their life to be like a house? Planned, developed, structured and varied; basic things a person would want for their life.
Differences and imperfections gave you personality. Houses have personality too; houses may be old or new, extravagant or modest, maintained or run down. A house can be redone, remodeled. Some lives are too far-gone for repair.
Yet houses are simply shells we live in; they serve their function and that's all. He had these basic things houses had, he had structure, function, but he lacked an important thing all houses had, he lacked the people inside.