Mr. Blanding's Dream House, Ohio Boulevard, Terre Haute, Indiana
When Selznick Studios launched their movies in the 1930's and 40's, their promotional stunts were often as big a production as the films themselves. They held nationwide casting calls for Scarlett in 1939's Gone With the Wind even though Vivien Leigh already had the part. In 1937 they flew the residents of Zenda, Ontario to the Hollywood premiere of The Prisoner of Zenda.
And, in 1948, they went even bigger. They built dream houses for the release of Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House -- 733 of them, all over the country.
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Selznick Studios and RKO Pictures contracted with local builders and furniture companies, as well as larger corporations like General Electric, to create and raffle off the houses.
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They were exciting and modern and often came fully furnished...but they didn't always look like the Blandings House.
Kelloggs even created a tiny model version (that looks much more authentic).
This version in Terre Haute that came on the market recently looks fairly authentic, albeit with obvious changes, like the front porch.
Its rooms also differ a bit from the official floor plan, below:
The stair hall is open to the living room on the right and the den on the left.
The movie version of the living room looked like this:
Today that might look a little something like this:
If it were mine, though, I probably would make it more a little more comfy-cozy, like this:
The dining room and kitchen are at the back of the house, accessible from the living room.
The kitchen is actually pretty similar to the Dream House version that was so sleek and modern in 1948:
The Terre Haute version still has the divider by the breakfast nook, now a convenient desk area:
Here's an extended play version of the movie's rooms:
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I found it while looking for an example of how the den below might be furnished.
I also found this illustration on Pinterest and thought it suited the room perfectly:
The colors coordinate well with the green living room, and with the...wait for it...original rose-patterned carpet upstairs.
The listing lets us know it was part of the promotion from Bigelow Carpets:
I had fun imagining how you would furnish a bedroom to work with that bossy carpet, and came up with this:
It carries the color scheme from the other rooms, and even has a quilted satin bedspread. Just like the Blandings!
The rose carpet continues into the vanity area and down to the master bathroom, which also look original:
The house has four bedrooms (only three pictured, unless they're counting the den) and two and a half bathrooms in 3,520 square feet.
The basement is where things really get exciting, though. It's steel-framed. According to the listing, steel-framing was "a unique architectural innovation featured in several 1948 Mr. Blandings replica homes."
It "provides remarkable durability and a glimpse into postwar building ingenuity."
Like the rest of the house, the basement seems to have been very well maintained over the past 77 years.
The pool isn't original, but is a great addition:
Wonder if the vintage telephone booth comes with the property?
The 1946 book Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House is about an advertising executive who really needs to come up with a big idea to promote a product. His dream house is a money pit of construction and logistical nightmares and he's desperate for job security and success. It's based on the experiences of author Eric Hodgins. He apparently couldn't afford the house until he earned book and movie royalties -- but at that point had already been forced to sell it.
The movie set was actually built as a real house in Malibu Creek State Park. It's still there, used as an office for park employees and the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy. Incidentally, it's about a 2.5 mile hike away from the site where they filmed MASH.
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Author Eric Hodgins' home in New Milford, Connecticut is still there, too:
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