Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House is a 1946 comedy

Comedy

Comedy , as a popular meaning, is any humorous discourse or work generally intended to amuse by creating laughter, especially in television, film, and stand-up comedy. This must be carefully distinguished from its academic definition, namely the comic theatre, whose Western origins are found in...

 novel written by Eric Hodgins

Eric Hodgins

Eric Francis Hodgins was the American author of the popular Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House , illustrated by William Steig....

 and illustrated by William Steig

William Steig

William Steig was a prolific American cartoonist, sculptor and, later in life, an author of popular children's literature...

, describing the vicissitudes of buying a home in the country. It originally appeared as a short story in the April 1946 issue of Fortune

Fortune (magazine)

Fortune is a global business magazine published by Time Inc. Founded by Henry Luce in 1930, the publishing business, consisting of Time, Life, Fortune, and Sports Illustrated, grew to become Time Warner. In turn, AOL grew as it acquired Time Warner in 2000 when Time Warner was the world's largest...

magazine.

It was adapted as a movie of the same name

Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House

Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House is a 1948 American comedy film directed by H.C. Potter and starring Cary Grant and Myrna Loy. The film was written and produced by the team of Melvin Frank and Norman Panama...

, released in 1948, which starred Cary Grant

Cary Grant

Archibald Alexander Leach , better known by his stage name Cary Grant, was an English actor who later took U.S. citizenship...

, Myrna Loy

Myrna Loy

Myrna Loy was an American actress. Trained as a dancer, she devoted herself fully to an acting career following a few minor roles in silent films. Originally typecast in exotic roles, often as a vamp or a woman of Asian descent, her career prospects improved following her portrayal of Nora Charles...

, and Melvyn Douglas

Melvyn Douglas

Melvyn Edouard Hesselberg , better known as Melvyn Douglas, was an American actor.Coming to prominence in the 1930s as a suave leading man , Douglas later transitioned into more mature and fatherly roles as in his Academy Award-winning performances in Hud...

. Later two radio adaptations were also performed, with Grant in the leading role.

Plot summary

The book begins in fictional Landsdale County, Connecticut, where Jim and Muriel Blandings are being shown an old farmhouse by a real estate agent. Blandings, a successful New York advertising executive, and his wife want to leave their tiny Midtown apartment, where they live with their two daughters. They fantasize that the farmhouse will meet their needs. After some negotiation, they buy the house.

They soon learn that the house is structurally unsound and must be torn down. They design the perfect home in the country, imagining an idyll, but they are quickly beset by construction troubles, temperamental workmen, skyrocketing bills, threatening lawyers, and difficult neighbors. The Blandings' dream house soon threatens to be the nightmare that undoes them.

Hodgins wrote a sequel, Blandings Way, published in 1950.

The short story and novel were based on the author Eric Hodgins's experience with buying property and building a house in the Merryall area of the Litchfield County, Connecticut

Litchfield County, Connecticut

Litchfield County is a county located in the northwestern corner of the U.S. state of Connecticut. Litchfield County has the lowest population density of any county in Connecticut but is geographically the state's largest county. As of 2010 the population was 189,927...

, town of New Milford

New Milford

New Milford may refer to:Places in the United States of America* New Milford, Connecticut* New Milford, Illinois* New Milford, New Hampshire* New Milford, New Jersey* New Milford, New York, a hamlet in Warwick* New Milford, Pennsylvania...

. His former house, which still stands, sold in August 2004 for $1.2 million.

Characters

• Mr. James Blandings – advertising executive
• Mrs. Muriel Blandings – his wife
• Mr. William "Bill" Cole – the Blandings' lawyer and friend

Film, TV or theatrical adaptations

In addition to the 1948 film, the novel was adapted as two radio plays, both starring Cary Grant. It was the basis of the 2007 film called Are We Done Yet?

Are We Done Yet?

Are We Done Yet? is a 2007 family comedy film starring Ice Cube. The film is both a remake of the classic Cary Grant comedy Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House and a sequel to 2005's comedy Are We There Yet? The film was directed by Steve Carr from a screenplay by Hank Nelken...

.