It’s plain showmanship that the theater goes dark when the curtain is raised. By cutting out extraneous distractions, the viewer’s attention is inescapably focused on the presentation. A photograph calls for the same kind of concentration: to be most effective, it should present your point and nothing but your point.
This requires that you crystallize in your own mind, at the time of exposure, just what you are trying to say, to mentally trim the scene down to your subject. Don’t include the whole house, if it’s the intricate doorknocker you are after.
