use of 'that'

[ksandipan]

If we consider the following sentence -

The house on the street that is well-known in the locality has been renovated recently.

The word 'that' refers to which noun - 'house' or 'street' and why?

Is there any rule which says that the word 'that' used after a prepostional phrase ( in the given example - "on the street") should ignore the noun of the prepositional phrase ("street") and instead refer to the subject of the sentence ("house")?

Please help.

[aous02]

The house on the street that is well-known in the locality has been renovated recently.

"That" here refers to "The house".
If it refers to "the street" then what's the use of mentioning the house. I hope this is clear.

Is there any rule which says that the word 'that' used after a prepostional phrase ( in the given example - "on the street") should ignore the noun of the prepositional phrase ("street") and instead refer to the subject of the sentence ("house")?

Absolutely NO. There's no such a rule.

eg: The man in the house that was built in 1909 was rather shabby.

[ksandipan]

The house on the street that is well-known in the locality has been renovated recently.

"That" here refers to "The house".
If it refers to "the street" then what's the use of mentioning the house. I hope this is clear.

Is there any rule which says that the word 'that' used after a prepostional phrase ( in the given example - "on the street") should ignore the noun of the prepositional phrase ("street") and instead refer to the subject of the sentence ("house")?

Absolutely NO. There's no such a rule.

eg: The man in the house that was built in 1909 was rather shabby.

Thanks for your reply.
"The house' has been mentioned to use it along with the last part of the sentence - "..has been renovated recently".

What I could understand from your reply is that the correct reference need
to be understood from the meaning the sentence wants to convey. There is no rule laid down for this.

Please correct me if I am wrong.

[bendriss]

If we assume that 'that' refers to the street, then the sentence is not clear. We need to specify which house has been renovated.
Unless there is just one house in that street.