What is the setting of "The Story of an Hour"?

This is one of those questions that can be answered literally or metaphorically, although given the concise intensity of Chopin's writing style, even the most humdrum of literal descriptions can--and should--be interpreted figuratively here. On the surface, the setting of the story is in the Mallard house: a well-to-do dwelling with no particularly remarkable features. If one were to make a movie of this story, for example, the director would have little more to film than the foyer, the stairs, and Louise's bedroom.
However, the real trick to gleaning every nuance of meaning from this story is to keep in mind that no detail is here by accident, and that similarly, any pointed lack of information can also give rise to new speculations. Consider, for example, that because Chopin limits the majority of her descriptions to the confines of the house, we are also meant to understand, by extension, how sharply limited Louise Mallard's world has always been. Indeed, our only concrete glimpse of the outside world occurs as Louise gazes blankly out the window during her extended period of contemplation following the news of her husband's death: a period in which she first dares to consider a larger, fuller life without him. As her perspective expands, the setting itself expands accordingly.
However you decide to interpret the various details that Chopin provides (and there are many ways to do so), the main idea to keep in mind is that the physical setting of the story and the ever-shifting psychological landscape of Louise's transformation are inextricably linked. For each description that Chopin provides, ask yourself what it might be implying about Louise's emotional state, her marriage, or her shifting relationships with those around her. The deeper you look, the more surprised you'll become at the subtle depths hidden in this shortest of short stories.

Kate Chopin sets "The Story of an Hour" in the spring, which is meant to coincide with and deepen the idea of a new life for Louise Mallard after her husband's death.
The story takes place mainly in Louise's bedroom and on the stairs that separate the two floors of the Mallards' house. The setting is very restricted, and in this way, Chopin emphasizes the narrowness of Louise's existence in her marriage. Louise can look outside from the window in her room and see and hear the freedom that others are enjoying—and which she, too, will soon enjoy upon being released from an oppressive marriage.
Chopin does not specify a geographic location, nor does she indicate a year. These omissions make the story timeless and universal, to reflect the state of women who might feel that they have little choice but to be married because of societal expectations.