Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House

A 1946 novel by Eric Hodgins. The story is was inspired by Hodgins's own experience building his home.

Adapted into a 1948 Cary Grant & Myrna Loy film of the same name.

The main character is James Blandings, a successful advertising executive. He and his wife grow tired of their Manhattan apartment and seek out a country estate. They fall in love with "the old Hackett place" an old farmstead with a dilapidated colonial farmhouse. They originally try to remodel the house but eventually decide to tear it down and build new. The rest of the story is a series of disasters as they overspend their budget and fight with contractors.

Tropes

 * George Washington Slept Here: One of the selling points of the house is that General Gates supposedly stopped to water his horses there during the Revolutionary War.