I’ve watched “It’s a Wonderful Life” every year since I was a little girl. Never tire of it! I don’t think I have a favorite character. Clarence the Angel is certainly up there, but so is forgetful Uncle Billy and free spirit/lost soul Violet Bick. Have I been right in thinking all these years that she needed to go to NY for an abortion?

320 Sycamore plays as large a role as any human in the story. When it first appears, George is about to throw a rock at the windows. Mary tells him not to because she loves that house. George doesn’t get it. “It is a weather-beaten, old-fashioned two-storied house that once was no doubt resplendent.” Mary: Oh, no, George, don’t. It’s full of romance, that old place. I’d like to live in it. George: In that place? I wouldn’t live in it as a ghost.

Ah, but who ends up being right about that old house? Mary recognizes the potential in the forgotten Victorian beauty and knows it just needs some attention. Also, pretty cool that we see her working on it herself without the help of contractors.

The house is a metaphor for every character in that film and the entire town of Bedford Falls. They are all worth the effort. Why, even Old Man Potter comes around in the end, doesn’t he?

FYI, in my Beacon house, which I not-so-subconsciously fell in love with because of that film, there was a loose newel post. I always refused to fix it because it always reminded me of George and Mary’s broken bannister.

More on the old house @ Hooked on Houses.