Marlin 1894C carbine in .44 or .357
Geez, I have some experience-based learning to pass along to the original poster, but I'm almost afraid to jump into this rip-tide of a thread...~
I think a lever gun could make a very good home defense tool. They can be light, compact, light in recoil, very easy to learn and use, and available at every power level one might want from mild to wild.
When I travel to California, where I'm always afraid of falling afoul of their Byzantine gun laws, I usually play it safe and take along a single-stack Springfield EMP 9mm and a compact Marlin 1894C in .44 Mag with two boxes of ammo: 50 rounds of relatively mild .44 Special defensive ammo (for close-in "social work") and 50 rounds of full-punch 240-grain .44 Magnum ammo (for zombies, Godzilla, and anything else unexpected). My 1894C holds 10 rounds of .44 Mag, can be topped off on the fly (an interesting trade-off vs. having a detachable magazine; in some cases the ability to keep the magazine topped off can actually be better), is set up with a very small red-dot reflex sight and even smaller laser, both backed by the factory iron sights.
I didn't set out to build a "tactical lever carbine" but it's sort of turned out that way
. Along the way it's simultaneously turned into a really nice little woods-walking carbine, weighing under 7 lbs, its slim receiver easy to carry in the hand, handy for whatever comes along, good out to 100 yards or so. In that role it's pretty much displaced the other two rifles I've previously used in that role: A Mini-30 (which is heavier and doesn't pack as much punch as the .44 carbine) and a Bushmaster Carbon-15 carbon-fiber 5.56 carbine, the latter a delightfully lightweight little rig that is a joy to carry and use, but when its purpose is to deal with the close-up unexpected in the boonies, I have more confidence in a 240-grain .44 Magnum than a 62-grain 5.56 round. The .44 can also do little tricks like fire a good-sized snake-shot capsule.
So if what you want is a lever-action carbine for home defense, go for it. Having owned several different lever guns, my recommendation would be a Marlin, and of the Marlins, the 1894C in either .357 or .44 Magnum. For use in the boonies or occasional hunting the .44 Magnum would be preferable; for home defense either one would work well.