Famous "Sleepless in Seattle" Houseboat

Houseboats have a long Hollywood tradition of capturing romance and adventure in American films. From Cary Grant to Tom Hanks, Hollywood's leading men have captured the hearts of many a leading lady with the moon shimmering on the water. Robert Mitchum created nail-biting tension in the 1962 thriller "Cape Fear" as he terrorizes a family onboard a houseboat being swept out of control in a raging river. The film was respectfully remade with Robert DeNiro and Nick Nolte again engaged in a life or death struggle aboard the houseboat.

 

The First Houseboat -- the Roman Emperor, Caligula?

After nearly 1,900 years at the bottom of Lake Nemi, Caligula's pleasure craft were finally rescued.  Inside a frame building, teams of historians and archaeologists began a scholarly study of the remarkable ships' artifacts. The thrill of discovery was short-lived when, a mere decade later, the ships and the museum that displayed them burned down amidst the chaos of World War II.

       Today a Lake Nemi museum tells the story of Caligula's extravagant houseboats and displays scale models, architectural drawings and rare artifacts that survived the fire. Outside, a life-size reconstruction of the sailing ship's hull is on display.