"The One Where They Build a House" is the second episode of the second season of the American television satirical sitcom Arrested Development. It is the 24th overall episode of the series, and was written by series creator Mitchell Hurwitz and co-executive producer Jim Vallely, and directed by Patty Jenkins. It originally aired on Fox on November 14, 2004. The title is a reference to the sitcom Friends, which had finished airing six months earlier.^[1]

The series, narrated by Ron Howard, follows the Bluths, a formerly wealthy, dysfunctional family, who made their money from property development. The Bluth family consists of Michael, his twin sister Lindsay, his older brother Gob, his younger brother Buster, their mother Lucille and father George Sr., as well as Michael's son George Michael, and Lindsay and her husband Tobias' daughter Maeby. In the episode, Gob promises a model house for a new development in only 2 weeks, so everyone in the family helps to build a fake house that is empty on the inside. Lindsay buys a cream made of powdered diamonds.

Michael (Jason Bateman) plans to save the Bluth Company by beginning construction on a new model home and holding a ribbon-cutting ceremony. Gob (Will Arnett), now president-in-name-only of the company, promises the board the house will be built in two weeks. Michael protests, and Gob suggests building a fake house, with nothing on the inside. Meanwhile, Buster (Tony Hale) tries to find a way out of being volunteered to the army by Lucille (Jessica Walter), while he suspects that she and Oscar (Jeffrey Tambor) are having an affair. Lucille tries repeatedly to end the relationship, but can't resist Oscar's luxurious hair. Buster finally finds out about the affair, gets upset, and willingly goes off to war.

Lindsay (Portia de Rossi) and Tobias (David Cross)'s newly open marriage becomes more competitive, and Lindsay makes a date with a homeless man (Thomas Jane), only to realize that he is actually an actor living on the street to research his role. As Gob cuts the ribbon on the hollow house at the ceremony, all four walls collapse. Gob angrily accuses Michael of setting him up, and the brothers get into a fight in front of the attending press, resulting in a lot of bad publicity for the company. Michael and Gob realize that their competitive attitudes stem from George Sr. (Tambor), who has always pitted them against each other.

Meanwhile George Sr. hides out in Mexico with Kitty (Judy Greer), who is driving him crazy. He asks Gob to wire him money, but the call ends when the police take down George Sr. for marijuana smuggling, thinking that he is Oscar. George Sr. eventually manages to convince the Mexican police that he is not Oscar, when they start to refer to his infamous appearance on the Bluth company's cornball fryer commercial. He thinks he is off the hook until all the Mexican officers angrily show him burns they got from attempting to use the fryer. He tries buying his way out of the predicament, but failing to contact either Gob and Michael, who both have decided not to speak to him, he is unable to get the money for the bribe, and is dragged away by the officers.

Lindsay finds out the homeless man is actually an actor, who rejects her, and she and Tobias reconnect.

"The One Where They Build a House" was directed by Patty Jenkins, and written by series creator Mitchell Hurwitz and co-executive producer Jim Vallely. It was Jenkins' first and only directing credit, Hurwitzs' tenth writing credit and Vallely's sixth writing credit.^[2] It was the second episode of the season to be filmed.^[3]

In the United States, the episode was watched by 7.22 million viewers on its original broadcast.^[4]

The A.V. Club writer Noel Murray praised the episode, saying "this episode is big on bold slapstick moves."^[1] In 2019, Brian Tallerico from Vulture ranked the episode 24th out of the whole series, calling it a "very funny chapter".^[5]

• "The One Where They Build a House" at IMDb