Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House originally was a novel, written in 1946 by Eric Hodgins. The largely autobiographical book features a Manhattan couple that decides to flee the city in search of a new life in the country. The two buy an aging home beset with problems, tear it down to build a dream house and wind up with even more problems. The book was a success, and Hollywood jumped at the chance to bring it to the Silver Screen with stars Cary Grant and Myrna Loy.
In advance of the movie’s opening in 1948, David O. Selznick Studios arranged to build 73 replica houses in fast-growing suburban cities such as Bakersfield, California; Portland, Oregon; and Worcester, Massachusetts.
In Phoenix, Selznick contracted with P.W. Womack Construction Company to build a dream house. Porter Womack, an influential businessman who became known as the “dean of the Salt River Valley residential developers,” was a logical choice to do business with. The Womack company developed three key central city subdivisions in the late 1940s: BelAir, Woodlawn Park and Melrose Manor, says Kevin Weight, a planner with the Phoenix’s Historic Preservation Office.
Womack decided to put the dream home in his BelAir subdivision, where it remains today. The three-bedroom home reportedly was built in 28 days, just in time for the movie premiere.
The replica dream homes were a hit. The home in Ottawa Hills drew thousands of people over two weeks, with lines snaking from the front door to the street, according to the Toledo Blade. The San Mateo, California, house was featured in Life magazine.
In Phoenix, nearly 5,000 people filed into the modern dream home, according to local news reports. The crowds were so overwhelming that the city added more police patrols to keep the order.
At night, floodlights shined in front of the home in true Hollywood style.
When the promotion ended, the Phoenix home sold for $24,000 to Mary and Harold Britt. Long after the publicity died down, strangers still showed up for tours, Mary Britt told a local news reporter in 1976.
The Britts’ neighbor, Sharon Chandler, says the couple enjoyed the house, its large yard and the neighborhood.
“They liked the house from the get-go; forget the movie,” says Chandler, who still lives next door to the dream house. “She loved the idea of it… but she never bothered to see the movie.”
Chandler ultimately convinced Mary Britt to watch Mr. Blandings, and the women were stunned to see the movie’s two-story dream home. “We were just beside ourselves laughing,” she says. “There was no similarity whatsoever.”
The Phoenix house was redesigned as a ranch home to better fit in with the Southwest. Design aside, it had all the amenities of a dream house in Phoenix in the 1940s.
The home featured state-of-the art General Electric appliances, modern metal kitchen cabinets, heating and cooling systems, a laundry room with the latest automatic washing machine, a fireplace, built-in bookshelves, closets with built-in wardrobes, a patio, and a backyard full of citrus and other trees. Floor-to-ceiling windows line an entire side of the home, giving great views of the yard from just about anywhere in the house.
Britt sold it in the 1980s, and the Bernreuters are the fifth owners. The home today still has many of the original features, including the large windows, brick patio, bathrooms tiled in pink and mint green, and all the built-in storage. Two original trees – a fig and Clementine – still grow out back.
The home’s centerpiece is an airy living room with a wall of windows overlooking the large backyard. It was an instant selling point, recalls Jon Bernreuter.
“We just said, ‘Let’s take it. Let’s take it.’”