Synopsis

It's the early twentieth century. Upon the death of her well-bred husband, Margaret Carey (Dorothy McGuire) of Boston, Massachusetts is forced to sell many of the family's belongings and move into a smaller house, a dreary one which she has found in town, and only then will they barely be able to make ends meet on a much reduced budget. However, the eldest of her three children, teenager Nancy Carey (Hayley Mills),has made inquiries into the availability of "the yellow house" in Beulah, Maine, with which the family fell in love when they were there on a vacation a few years ago. The house at the time was empty, apparently still is, and is renting for a pittance according to Ostia "Osh" Popham (Burl Ives),the local mercantilist acting on behalf of the property owner, Tom Hamilton (Peter Brown). Mr. Hamilton inherited the house from his father, and now lives in China. Sight unseen, soft-hearted Osh rents them the house based on the "tug at the heartstrings" story Nancy told to him via their correspondence. Despite that story not totally being true, Osh falls in love with the Careys once they arrive in Beulah so as to keep to the verbal agreement. In fact, he offers them one concession after another, including that they can live there rent-free in lieu of the repairs and decorating they will do to make the house their own, with Osh even throwing in much of his own free labor. What Osh has failed to tell them is that not only has he not cleared any of these issues with Mr. Hamilton, but he hasn't even told Mr. Hamilton he has rented the house. The transition to country life has enough challenges for some of the Careys, which is made even more challenging with: the addition of an inherited old English sheepdog; the arrival of their cousin Julia Carey (Deborah Walley),a stuck-up young woman who the Carey children do not much like but who is not to be told of the unfortunate circumstances behind her needing to live with them; and Nancy just entering young womanhood, she who is as attracted to Charles Bryant (James Stacy),the dashing new schoolteacher, as any young woman in town. Things get even more complicated with the unexpected arrival back into town of Tom Hamilton.

It's the early twentieth century. Upon the death of her well-bred husband, Margaret Carey (Dorothy McGuire) of Boston, Massachusetts is forced to sell many of the family's belongings and move into a smaller house, a dreary one which she has found in town, and only then will they barely be able to make ends meet on a much reduced budget. However, the eldest of her three children, teenager Nancy Carey (Hayley Mills),has made inquiries into the availability of "the yellow house" in Beulah, Maine, with which the family fell in love when they were there on a vacation a few years ago. The house at the time was empty, apparently still is, and is renting for a pittance according to Ostia "Osh" Popham (Burl Ives),the local mercantilist acting on behalf of the property owner, Tom Hamilton (Peter Brown). Mr. Hamilton inherited the house from his father, and now lives in China. Sight unseen, soft-hearted Osh rents them the house based on the "tug at the heartstrings" story Nancy told to him via their correspondence. Despite that story not totally being true, Osh falls in love with the Careys once they arrive in Beulah so as to keep to the verbal agreement. In fact, he offers them one concession after another, including that they can live there rent-free in lieu of the repairs and decorating they will do to make the house their own, with Osh even throwing in much of his own free labor. What Osh has failed to tell them is that not only has he not cleared any of these issues with Mr. Hamilton, but he hasn't even told Mr. Hamilton he has rented the house. The transition to country life has enough challenges for some of the Careys, which is made even more challenging with: the addition of an inherited old English sheepdog; the arrival of their cousin Julia Carey (Deborah Walley),a stuck-up young woman who the Carey children do not much like but who is not to be told of the unfortunate circumstances behind her needing to live with them; and Nancy just entering young womanhood, she who is as attracted to Charles Bryant (James Stacy),the dashing new schoolteacher, as any young woman in town. Things get even more complicated with the unexpected arrival back into town of Tom Hamilton.