The Money Pit

What do you do when you’ve been snowed in for 4 days straight?  Watch your favorite movies!  One of my favorite movies that never fails to make me laugh is The Money Pit starring Tom Hanks and Shelley Long.


Do you sometimes feel like something is always falling apart or needing a repair in your home? I promise you’ll be kissing the floors of your Home, Sweet Home after a viewing of The Money Pit. Ha!

A Little Synopsis:
The Money Pit is a film made in 1986 and said to be a loose remake of the movie, Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House. In this comedy, Walter Fielding, an entertainment industry lawyer played by Tom Hanks and Anna Crowley, who plays a viola is played by Shelley Long find themselves suddenly and without warning having to move from their New York apartment. A frantic search begins for a new home and a not-so-nice real estate “friend” directs them to an amazing find. (cough, cough)

This is how the home looks on Anna and Walter’s first visit. Surprisingly, The Money Pit was filmed in a real home and not on a movie set. The house is located at: 199 Feeks Lane, Locust Valley, New York and was owned by the Ridder family at the time of the filming.

Tour the home in the movie, The Money Pit

In the movie, the home is owned by Estelle, played by Maureen Stapleton, and her husband, Carlos, who we don’t see to the very end of the movie. In the pic below, Estelle is giving the young couple a tour. She makes up a crazy story about some trouble her husband is supposedly in that is causing her to have to sell quickly and cheaply. They foolishly believe her. The lamp you see here and in the next picture is available for purchase at the antique shop I posted about in THIS post.

Tour the home in the movie, The Money Pit

Another view of the drawing room…

Tour the home in the movie, The Money Pit

Estelle gives Walter and Anna a tour of the home by candlelight saying she can’t afford to use the electricity because all her money is going to her husband’s “blood-sucking lawyers.” As they tour the home, she mentions the furniture is for sale, too. Anna loves the bed in the Master Bedroom.

Tour the home in the movie, The Money Pit

We get a glimpse of a downstairs bathroom when Walter goes in one during the tour. He briefly checks out the plumbing and finds it to be working.

Tour the home in the movie, The Money Pit

Estelle shows them the back side of the this million+ dollar home that they are going to be getting for only $200,000. She tells them she has always done all her own yard work (yeah, right) but they may want to hire a gardener to help them maintain the 9 acres.

We get a better view of the bed in the master bedroom once they move in. Beautiful, right?

Tour the home in the movie, The Money Pit

Anna decides to give her new bed a try…

Tour the home in the movie, The Money Pit

And it swallows her up. Is this ever foreshadowing for what is yet to come!

Tour the home in the movie, The Money Pit

We get another view of the front of the house when Walter goes outside to the garage for some tools to make a few minor repairs on the door. Estelle also throws in the car with the home. Deals galore!

Tour the home in the movie, The Money Pit

While Walter is outside, Anna spots this niffy old dumbwaiter and decides to check it out.

Tour the home in the movie, The Money Pit

A crazy (and I do mean crazy) raccoon is waiting inside. He leaps out and lands on her neck/shoulder and won’t let go. Naturally, Anna screams bloody murder and Walter dashes in from outside to see what is going on. He never gets upstairs to see Mr. Raccoon.

Tour the home in the movie, The Money Pit

As he runs up the grand, beautiful, majestic (it really was nice) front staircase, the whole thing begins disintegrating underneath him. It truly is an unforgettable scene. I snagged as many pics from that scene as I could and put them together in two collages. Just follow the collages from left to right to witness this amazing scene from the movie.

Tour the home in the movie, The Money Pit

Walter is okay, just dazed. In the meantime, Anna hadn’t even noticed what was happening to Walter (until it’s all over) because she had a psycho raccoon stuck to her neck. This movie has some absolutely unforgettable scenes…if you haven’t seen it, you need to rent it.

Tour the home in the movie, The Money Pit

That night, Walter and Anna drag the mattress off of the bed onto the floor to sleep, less the bed swallow them both whole. As they curl up for the night, it begins to rain outside…

Tour the home in the movie, The Money Pit

And unfortunately…inside, too.

Tour the home in the movie, The Money Pit

The next day, the new mattress they ordered is delivered. In the meantime, Walter is attempting to hire contractors to come in and make the necessary repairs, but they are all booked or busy.

Tour the home in the movie, The Money Pit

We only get a few shots of the kitchen…like this one where Anna is lighting the ancient stove.

Tour the home in the movie, The Money Pit

And here where she is showing Walter their high-tech refrigerator. I like the glass door cabinets. Hey, I’m trying to find a rainbow somewhere!!!

Tour the home in the movie, The Money Pit

After moving in, they discover the plumbing doesn’t work, so here’s where Walter goes for water. 😉

Tour the home in the movie, The Money Pit

For baths, they bring water from outside, heat it on the old stove and then carry it up their “ladder staircase” to the bathroom. Fun, huh? We get a good shot of the entry floor here.

Tour the home in the movie, The Money Pit

A view of the bathroom…love the armoire but not so much the wallpaper…and this house has lots of it. Anna asks Walter if he will go downstairs to the kitchen to get more hot water from the stove where it’s being heated. Walter heads for the kitchen…

Tour the home in the movie, The Money Pit

Here’s a little view of the wallpaper and the cabinets in the kitchen. I guess things were hanging on the wall where we see all those spots. I’ve never seen a kitchen with cabinets like this…have you? What would you store in all those shallow, little drawers? Cookie cutters? Spatulas? They are kind of neat, aren’t they.

Tour the home in the movie, The Money Pit

Walter sits down to wait while the water heats on the stove. Julia Childs is on the TV in the kitchen and she is giving instructions on how to cook something. Walter decides to catch up on some reading while he waits. It’s kind of dark so he reaches above his head and flips the switch to turn on the light in the kitchen. Then it begins…another memorable scene.

A fire erupts and makes its way up one side of the door, across the top and down the other. It heads across the kitchen, melting the blender in half. It keeps on going, making its way across the back of the cabinets until it blows out Julia on the TV.

Tour the home in the movie, The Money Pit

It eventually reaches the stove and shoots the turkey that’s cooking inside out the front door of the oven like a cannonball shot out of a cannon. Ha!

Tour the home in the movie, The Money Pit

Walter brings two pails of water upstairs and warns Anna to not go into the kitchen. He hands one bucket of water to Anna and they began pouring the water into the tub. Can you ever guess what happens? Notice anything odd about the tub in this pic? Does it seem a little low? That’s because it’s

Tour the home in the movie, The Money Pit

On its way down to the first floor…

Tour the home in the movie, The Money Pit

Where it crashes into a million pieces.

Tour the home in the movie, The Money Pit

At this point, Walter completely looses it…we’re talking “laughing like a hyena” looses it. Anna is just too stunned to do or say anything.

Tour the home in the movie, The Money Pit

You can watch the kitchen and bathtub scene here…it’s pretty hysterical. 🙂

Later in the movie, Walter misses the permit guy when he comes by the house. He agrees to come back, for a price. Walter hangs up the phone and while he waits for the permit guy to arrive, he begins counting his money in his wallet since he’s about to have to pay a hefty ransom. While counting, Walter walks across the room and steps on a large oriental rug that’s apparently camouflaging a giant hole in the floor. He begins to sink, totally confused at first as to what’s happening. By the time he realizes what is going on, he is in up to his shoulders and stuck.

Tour the home in the movie, The Money Pit

The permit guy comes and leaves, furious that Walter doesn’t answer the door. Walter is a tad busy…stuck in the floor. Anna is late getting home so Walter spends some quality time (hours) in the floor singing the “name game” until he eventually falls asleep.

Anna arrives home and wonders where Walter could be. She looks everywhere, except up. (You can just see Walter in the ceiling in the top right pic in the collage below.) Anna eventually realizes Walter is upstairs. She tries to “rescue” him, which results in Walter taking the fast route downstairs.

Tour the home in the movie, The Money Pit

Eventually, the work crew does show up. When they come down the driveway, they look like a cross between Hell’s Angels and the circus coming to town. It turns out some of the “workers” are a Hell’s Angels group.  Interesting, huh?

After they work on the house for one day, here’s how it looks when Walter gets home. He is beyond horrified. Can you believe the real owners of the home in 1986 (when the movie was made) allowed this to be done to their home?! I’m wondering if it already needed a major renovation and maybe they struck a deal with the production company allowing them to do whatever they wanted, if they would completely renovate the home once filming was complete. It’s obvious during the movie that the home gets a brand new roof, so I’m guessing some deals were made for other renovations, too.

Tour the home in the movie, The Money Pit

The back of the home during the “repair” stage.

Tour the home in the movie, The Money Pit

More views of the entry area during the renovation…

Tour the home in the movie, The Money Pit

At last, the home is finished. But unfortunately, Anna and Walter’s relationship is finished, too. It doesn’t have to do so much with the house fiasco as it does with something else that takes place in the movie between Anna and her ex-husband…something that ultimately turns out to have not happened.

 

We get a view of the downstairs as Anna and Walter do a walk-through of the finished house. Unfortunately, we never get to see the renovated kitchen or any other rooms. Rats!
Tour the home in the movie, The Money Pit

A view of the rebuilt staircase…

Tour the home in the movie, The Money Pit

Love the tiled floor…
Tour the home in the movie, The Money Pit

Fortunately, Walter and Anna realize how much they love each other, reconcile and get married in their beautiful, rebuilt home.

Tour the home in the movie, The Money Pit

I love a happy ending, don’t you?

Tour the home in the movie, The Money Pit

A Favorite Scene:

One of my favorite interchanges in the movie between Walter and Anna occurs as Walter is on his way out the front door to go work on yet another house repair. He stops and turns around to face Anna who has her viola to her chin and is just about to start rehearsing/playing.

Walter: “In spite of all the problems, and in spite of the prospect of indentured servitude for the rest of my life and debt beyond my wildest dreams, I love the house.”

Anna: (Smiles) “So do I. And I love you.”

Walter: (Smiles) “Life is good.”

The House Today:

The home used in the movie was known as The Northway House, even though it was owned by the Ridder family at the time of the filming. Here’s how the house looks today. Apparently, it has gone through some additional renovations and more windows have been added.

The movie ends with Estelle (remember Estelle) and her hubby, Carlos, selling the house below to another unsuspecting couple who turn out to be Walter’s father and his love.

If you need some laughter this weekend and you want to feel REALLY good about your own home, watch The Money Pit. 🙂

For additional Movie House Tours, click on the category heading Movie Houses, then Movie House Tours at the top of this blog or click,  HERE.

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Comments

  1. Thanks for the reminder of this movie – it's been ages since I've had a chance to enjoy it.

    Oh, and that home in Miami? That's the Vizcaya estate – a national historic landmark – you can go visit!!

  2. carolinajewel says

    You did a great job recapping. Living in an 1883 Victorian house, I can relate to this movie all too well!

  3. Days at Buttermilk Cottage says

    I haven't seen THE MONEY PIT, but I was certainly laughing out loud during the clip you posted!
    Best,
    Susan

  4. I would love to see the real cottage where Miss Honey, from the film Matilda,lived. I dream of that cottage!! I've found the Wormwood house but not the lovely cottage.

  5. Kathy @ Creative Home Expressions says

    This is a funny movie, Susan! If I recall, you also liked The 'Burbs, another Tom Hanks favorite of mine. Each scene you mention makes me laugh out loud. Great movie to watch while staying cozy in your non-money pit!

  6. Southern Princess says

    What an amazing post, I love it!!! It was such a funny movie and the house really did steal the show. xoxo

  7. Loved that movie…when we bought our house in 2004, which was built in '89, we knew it needed updating, but it's amazing how much there really is to do. Our brother in law sent us the movie, The Money Pit and that's what we affectionately call our casa. $40,ooo.oo worth of upgrades, replacements later, we don't see a huge difference, but are slowly making progress…haven't touched the kitchen or the upstairs!…still many projects to do…off to the home show today for more ideas. I think I want to watch the movie again tonight for a few laughs! Best regards…Debra in Virginia

  8. vignette design says

    I loved this movie! We call our house the money pit too! Thanks for the tour. I might need to rent the DVD and see this again.

  9. Machelle Blankenship says

    I loved this movie as a kid and I think it may have started my love for big old houses. I love money pits!! Thanks for the memories.
    machelle

  10. We bought our house in 1986 and renovated it ourselves for 2 years. There was a lot of truth in this movie and everyone who renovates should see it. What hit home for me was the flapping plastic in the rain and wind.

  11. Simple Southern Happiness says

    You and us both. I have so many things I could be doing but it's too cold. Can you believe how long the snow has remain on the ground here in Ga? Snow since Sunday and it just started to melt today so hubby could get out, well with a little bit of my shoveling down the steep driveway.

    I hope you are able to make it out soon. It will be getting up to the 50's and rain come Monday so hang on, you will get out soon.

    Totally my favorite movie of all times. You see, we bought a money pit. Hubby dumped me in the house and took off to go out of town for 5 weeks. He would call in every 3 days or so in the beginning to find out how I was and then the calls got less and less frequent. I was hammering a nail in the kitchen wall to hang a picture and suddenly the florescent light fixture fell from the ceiling. OH….. Well.. that was on my list to replace but not that soon. The cats we had were hunkered down staring at the corner in one of the bedrooms for many days. I just could not figure out what they were looking at? Then I heard the noise, there were birds in the wall…. I had the ceiling lights on in 2 of the bedrooms at the same time, I bent down to plug in the vacuum and poof….there went the power to that side of the house.

    Each time hubby would call he would have a gang of his traveling buddies hanging close to the phone waiting to hear the latest disaster and I could hear them laughing like Tom Hanks did when the tub fell through the floor…..

    Hubby decided to extend his trip a few more weeks….

    Thanks for taking me back in time. oh what a ride.

  12. Susan (Between Naps on the Porch) says

    Simple Southern Happiness…sounds like you have a good sense of humor…you have to when you are renovating a house, don't you? Thanks for the story…that is too funny about hubby and his friends! 😉

  13. Liz@http://infusewithliz.blogspot.com/ says

    We love that movie and have watched it many times…our joke when we renovated was always "two weeks" "two weeks" LOL… anybody who has ever renovated or built a home knows what that means! There is some great comedy there, like when Walter goes out to get water from the little boy statue and everything goes wrong..trees fall over you name it! Too funny!

  14. Susan (Between Naps on the Porch) says

    Liz…that is soooo funny! I love the 2 weeks! HA! I'd forgotten about the tree…that was hilarious! Tom Hanks was the perfect person for that movie…he is so talented!

  15. Wsprsweetly Of Cottages says

    This was a FANTASTIC reminder of how much I enjoyed this movie and why I love Tom Hanks and Shelly Long. I've lost track of Shelly Long and haven't seen her in years, but I will go see any movie that has Tom Hanks in it and this was one of his cutest! I am going to rent it from Netflex and watch it with my husband. He hasn't seen it and he will get such a kick out of it.
    Thanks for sharing this with us. You did a great job of narrating!
    🙂 Loved every minute of my visit today..(but I ALWAYS do!)
    Mona

  16. Susan,
    Love your movie house posts! This was a great one. I'm going back to look at the one from A Christmas Story now….
    Have a wonderful day!

  17. That is a beautiful house and I had forgotten all abt that movie. Thanx for sharing!

  18. That was such a fun read! I haven't seen this movie in years but I have Mr. Blandings Builds his Dream House on DVD. I also love George Washington Slept Here which is much like Mr. Blandings but earlier I believe.

    I'm sure they got paid big bucks to allow their house to be used in the movie! Years ago Kodak wanted to use my moms house for a commercial, they were going to re-paint the whole thing but my mom said no. She later regretted it though. Anyway, thank you for that…I'll have to rent it!

  19. classic • casual • home says

    That was so much fun seeing the movie highlights.
    Enjoy being cosy. It is warm enough for a bike ride here.
    Mary Ann

  20. Luncheons at the Junction says

    What a beautiful home! That last pic just takes your breath away!

  21. Erin@likegrandmas says

    This is one of my all time faves…and the bath tub scene is my fave of the movie, how darn funny is Tom Hanks!!

  22. Sue (Someone's Mom) says

    I loved this movie…that is until we bought our own Money Pit in 1990 and spent a full year restoring it. We sold the house in 1996 and we remember those days fondly. It was a beautiful, huge historic home…but I have to say that new construction is much easier to maintain!

  23. Designs By Pinky says

    I have never seen this movie but loved the clip! I will try to see if Netflix has it. Thanks for the tour!!!! I am afraid our house may become a money pit this year…..it is the "year of the fix up"….we'll see!!!! XO, Pinky

  24. Summerland Cottage Studio says

    This is TOO funny !
    Good memories,
    thank you for sharing !

  25. Lesa's Life says

    I love this movie. I watched it again last fall.

  26. Gracefully Vintage says

    Thanks for Sharing, LOVE that movie, and that home.. My Fav. style home- so beautiful
    Karryann

  27. Mandy at ourkitchentablecreations says

    Two Weeks! Two Weeks! The first home I owned was a Money Pit and we watched that movie over and over and over to get us through the rough days. It gave us a laugh at the end of the days we just wanted to cry! Thanks for sharing such a beautiful home- I never knew the movie was filmed in an actual home. It would be so neat to see pictures of the home as it is today.

  28. Mandy at ourkitchentablecreations says

    Two Weeks! Two Weeks! The first home I owned was a Money Pit and we watched that movie over and over and over to get us through the rough days. It gave us a laugh at the end of the days we just wanted to cry! Thanks for sharing such a beautiful home- I never knew the movie was filmed in an actual home. It would be so neat to see pictures of the home as it is today.

  29. I OWN THIS HOUSE! Well not THIS house…(it's a log home). We also watched the movie a few weeeks ago, because I needed a laugh as I was crying over what we need to do next. My dear husband see's the DREAM… and keeps telling me it will be wonderful. I'm looking forward to the END of my movie.

  30. So so funny even though I live in a money pit as well! One day in our 1900 farm house – our boiler broke – no heat! Then for some reason – NO WATER?? Windows so old that the glass breaks if you tap them. Oh the raining inside – my family has experience that many times. Five years later, still renovating and only about 1/3 of the way done. My husband and I love love love this movie. We always say "One day, one day – our house will be great!"

    thanks for the memories – Jody at [email protected]

  31. This film always makes me laugh and cringe! But I never took it seriously until we bought an 1870’s Italianate in 2000. I had the usual starry-eyed visions of grandeur until, month after month, stretching into years, new things (usually big, expensive things) went “twang!” every time we finished one thing. I wish we’d got as many laughs out of this place as Hanks & Long did. That bathtub thing is real, btw; it almost happened to our 10 year old son! (only half a floor beneath, hidden by clever tub surround!) Now, we’re older, poorer and sick of the whole mess and reduced to trying to ready it for the market. Anyone desiring a 3,000+ sq. ft Italianate in nice neighborhood, lg. yard with 2-story barn (needs TLC), e-mail me! Will also trade for Tuscan villa or cottage in Sussex.

    • Gwyn, I hear your pain. Sometimes I wonder if homeownership really pays off. If I added up all I’ve spent on my house in repairs/maintenance over the years, it would be a lot! And I still need to renovate all the baths.

  32. OK! for the Record. This has to be one of the funniest films from my earlier years. It wasn’t Childhood but..
    My favorite scene had to be the demolition of the scaffolding outback. I am so glad to know that it was a real House. It truly was and is a beautiful structure. This film is another reason I got into the entertainment business.. I collect dvd’s and Happily as of a few nights ago I could add this one to my Library.. I was in Walmart and it was in the $5.00 DVD bin with … wait for it The Burbs and Dragnet all in 1 box set.. Quite the coup for a collector. Had my one money pit.. turned the sow’s ear almost into a silk purse but thats long past.. For those who are reading these posts about this movie.. Rent it or better yet dig through the movie bin at your local Walmart retailer.. Worth every penny to laugh at over and over again.

  33. The Money Pit! I haven’t watched that in ten years. I love that movie!

  34. She plays the viola. Not the violin.

  35. Had to laugh when I learned ages after watching Money Pit that this home is actually just south of my own neighborhood (so I’m also familiar with the Sabrina houses – old and new movie). Northway was really redone by the owner that finally just sold it last fall…it sat and sat on the market and after several price reductions, it sold. There are several realty sites online with video tours and still pics of its current state – stunning, not all my taste, but beautiful nonetheless – and way out of my league! If you haven’t viewed them, you might want to take a peak before they get pulled as most do after a sale. Enjoy your site.

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