In an isolated, turn-of-the-last century house set on a Northern California hillside, Kate steps into a deserted room that exudes a strange appeal. Based largely on her reaction to this room, she decides to buy the Victorian and to move from Iowa with husband Dan, whose affair has rocked their marriage. Lost in this California environment far from her home and familiar things, Kate is drawn repeatedly to the upstairs room where she finds a diary written in 1906, and a delicate rose bud necklace. The diarist describes visits from her deceased husband, Franklin Elliott, a poet. Captivated by their devotion to each other, Kate can't resist doning the necklace, which, to her amazement provides a portal though which Franklin can enter Kate's world.