The 1991 comedy What About Bob–starring Richard Dreyfuss as a psychiatrist whose vacation is interrupted by a patient named Bob (Bill Murray)–was pretty funny. But what most of us probably remember is his vacation house on Lake Winnipesaukee, right?
They used a real lake house at Smith Mountain Lake in Wirtz, Virginia, for filming–both the exterior and interior. It was on the market last year, so I thought it would be fun to compare how it looked in the movie 20 years ago to how it looks today.
In the movie, the house had lots of cheery green paint on the exterior trim and shutters.
Julie Hagerty played Dr. Leo Marvin’s wife Fay and mom to Anna and Siggy–even though in real life she was only 10 years older than the actress playing her daughter (Kathryn Erbe).
Dr. Leo’s family falls in love with Bob–they think he’s a lot of fun, even if he does leave a trail of chaos in his wake. Leo, however, resists his charms.
Dreyfuss and Murray reportedly didn’t get along well on set, which may have made it easier to act out a few of the scenes…
The puppets on the mantel are mini versions of each family member. When they’re having problems, Dr. Leo likes to use them to act out their issues, which the kids don’t really appreciate.
The kitchen may look outdated now, but I like it anyway–it looks like a cozy spot to hang out in with the fam:
The screened porch run across the entire back of the house and is where the family eats all of their meals overlooking the lake. In this scene, Bill Murray is wearing Bob’s famous “Don’t Hassle Me-I’m Local” t-shirt, which you can still buy online:
The Master Bedroom:
Spoiler Alert! If you don’t want to know how the movie ends, turn away now…
At the end of the movie, Bob accidentally blows the house up. Producers used a 3/4-sized model that they detonated on a nearby lot. No lake houses were actually harmed during the filming of this movie…
A reader tracked down the listing photos last year for me when I couldn’t find them. (Thanks, Shelley!) It had already sold, but I was excited to see what the house looks like today.
As you can see, the bushes in front of the house have grown a lot since the movie was made and are in serious need of a trim:
The house was on the market for $1.675 million, but I’m not sure what it actually sold for. The house now has black shutters and trim instead of green:
The living room is pretty cheery, with yellow walls and red accents:
The kitchen hasn’t changed much–same cabinets, same tile–but they have a table instead of an island:
One of my favorite features of the house is the screened porch overlooking the lake:
There’s a finished lower-level that we never see in the film:
The house has 3 bedrooms, 2 baths, and 2 half baths, with a total of 2,880 square feet (which surprises me because it doesn’t look that big). This is the bedroom where their son Siggy slept:
And the Master Bedroom:
A view of the back of the house:
The listing even had the floorplans for the house:
The dock as it looks in the movie:
Someday I’d love to have a vacation house on a lake like this. Wish I had one to retreat to right now, as a matter of fact…minus the unwanted visitor, of course!
Click Here to see more Houses from the Movies, like the ones from Funny Farm and Dan in Real Life.
The new house photos are not showing up. I would love to recreate a house like this in my game. Do you still have the photos?
ReplyDeleteWe never saw Anna's unseen bedroom
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