However, a renovation of the premises proves successful, and their floating home becomes the backdrop for various episodes, where Tom discovers that Cinzia cannot cook, do laundry, or make coffee.

"[5] Jack Karr of the Toronto Daily Star recalled that "a thoroughly improbable set of circumstances has been brought together by Paramount Pictures to make "Houseboat’ a funny and appealing movie.

"[8] Hortense Morton of the San Francisco Examiner said that "without Grant, Houseboat might emerge a pleasant and lighthearted comedy dubbed with the kiss of death brush off as 'entertainment for the whole family.'

[10] Hope Pantell of the Baltimore Evening Sun called the comedy "a warmly appealing, sometimes very funny and sometimes very corny and sentimental family style film.

[13] Harold Whitehead of the Montreal Gazette stated that Loren, "the statuesque Italian has done some impressive-dramatic work and now in Houseboat she is trying her hand at romantic comedy with equally good results.

"[14] Sydney Johnson of the Montreal Star said that "the minutes pass pleasantly enough [...] mostly due to the expert performance of Cary Grant, the widower, and the several lively appearances of a refreshing personality named Harry Guardino.

"[15] Jay Carmody of the Washington Evening Star called the film "a good, healthy look at a family undergoing the daily travail of learning to live as a unit.

"[16] Clyde Gilmour wrote in the Vancouver Sun that the movie told "a wacky story which easily could have been too silly for belief without a leading man of Cary Grant's skill and charm.

"[17] Myles Standish of the St. Louis Post Dispatch described it as "that old-fashioned, improbable light comedy" which "has been prettied up with some palatable dialogue by Melville Shavelson and Jack Rose and does nicely as a vehicle for the slick Cary Grant.

"[18] A user of the Mae Tinee pseudonym in the Chicago Daily Tribune said that "Cary Grant carries this rather thin little comedy on his broad and capable shoulders"[19] while a critic for The Boston Globe said "if there's a picture that can be described [as being] 'for the whole family,' then 'Houseboat', at the Metropolitan Theater is the best bet of the season.

With Miss Loren slinking about the houseboat in various revealing states of décolletage, designed to catch the audience's attention, as well as Mr. Grant's, it is offensive to pretend to be interested in the emotional disturbances of kids.

He concluded that "there are songs and some scenic shots of Washington in this Paramount color film, but they fail to provide this creaky Houseboat with much-needed buoyancy.

[21] A London-based critic for The Guardian wrote a scathing comment on the film, saying that "'Houseboat', which describes itself as a romantic comedy, is dedicated to the unacceptable proposition that modern, self-expressive, outspoken American children are necessarily adorable.