Albert Barnes Commentary Proverbs 21:9

"It is better to dwell in the corner of the housetop, Than with a contentious woman in a wide house." — Proverbs 21:9 (ASV)

A wide house - literally, “a house of companionship,” that is, a house shared with her. The flat roof of an Eastern house was often used as a place to withdraw by day, or in summer for sleep by night. The corner of such a roof was exposed to all changes of weather, and the point of the proverb lies in the thought that all winds and storms which a man might meet with there are more endurable than the tempest within.