There are so many great homes featured in movies. Take the Vandamm house in Hitchcock’s movie North by Northwest (1959). It was inspired by Frank Lloyd Wright’s famous masterpiece, Falling Water.
And then there’s the creepy house in Hitchcock’s movie Psycho. Here you can get the full tour by the master himself.
What makes the Bates home unsettling is its advanced structural decay. By the 1950s, when the film was made, homebuyers craved sprawling ramblers with large windows designed to bring nature indoors. In contrast, a house burdened by years of neglected repairs felt sad, obsolete, and abandoned. Its shutters trembled in the wind. The front porch sagged heavily, and the floorboards groaned underfoot. Inside, the massive, dark trim loomed over the rooms—a suffocating relic from a forgotten era.
The 1960s trend of vast, comprehensive urban renewal by bulldozer shouldn’t surprise us. Homeowners hadn’t figured out how to build a culture of home maintenance and repair. As Victoria homes aged and became less desirable, owners no longer felt the urge to invest resources in them. Less fortunate people move in when the more fortunate people leave for the new builds. And a spiral of decay takes over the neighborhood. A perfect setting for Hitchcock’s story!
Home Economics 