there was his house. Compare 1 Samuel 1:19, &c.
altar. Shiloh forsaken, and Ark separated from Tabernacle. There was no chosen "place".
Related Commentaries of 1 Samuel 7:17
1 Samuel 7:17
17 And his return was to Ramah; for there was his house; and there he judged Israel; and there he built an altar unto the LORD.