How does Thoreau arrange things for his visitors?

At his cabin, he has three chairs: "one for solitude, two for friendship, three for society." As many as thirty people have been in his house at one time, and then they've all stood up. Most houses are so big that it makes Thoreau imagine their inhabitants as "vermin which infest them." The small size of his house only bothers him when he wants to talk with a friend about big ideas, which take a great deal of space to speak about. Often, they will find themselves with chairs pushed up against opposite corners, speaking their big thoughts. Sometimes to communicate most intimately with other people, we need to be so far apart we can't hear each other speaking.

On nice summer days, Thoreau takes his guests outside to his "'best' room," the pine woods behind his house. If he has one guest, they share his "frugal meal." If twenty people come, out of politeness no one speaks of eating.