Review: 41702 Canal Houseboat

A Houseboat is a great way to be on the water in a city. This renovated Canal Houseboat has old & new friends on a colorful adventure.

Let's get a tour of this floating house with creature comforts and lots of greenery.


First let's meet a new friend Elijah. He has the new-for-2022 mini-doll skin tone of reddish brown and hazel eyes. He's wearing a sporty shirt and flame yellowish orange cargo shorts.
His hair is hard plastic, which is another trend for 2022 of moving away from rubbery hair pieces.


An old friend makes her appearance with a new hat and hair combo -- which is a dual-mold of hard plastic. Mia looks very chill in a Fedora! Although the color seems brighter than her rubbery hair, I think it's still somewhat dark red.  Her skin tone is light nougat still.
Her purple and shiny silver halter top pulled into a side knot has been worn in a few sets already; so a little paint or dirt won't matter much.


First we build the small dock with a produce stand for selling carrots, honey and other items grown on the boat rooftop. I am very happy to see printed cut-board tiles!
The bike has a bucket type of accessory that can hold a flower -- very clever use of the teal nub. It's nice to get a spare bee tile, in case one "flies" away.


Another new friend is Layla, with purple rimmed glasses and rubbery hair (the style of Belle), she has the same medium nougat skin tone as Andrea.
Her ziggy striped strapless top has printing all the way around, with a shimmery pink belt that matches her shoes.

The ships hull pieces for the stem and middle come in a soft plastic bag we open after meeting Layla.
These parts are very rare in medium nougat -- only in one other set so far.


In bag 2 we get some interesting, new parts and recolors. The dark azure curved 5x5 plate 1/4 circle with cutout that has the same arc as the corner dome parts is a new part for 2022.
The curvy smooth tile is a new recolor in Cool Yellow (yay!). The corner triangle tiles are rare in dark azure, same as the 1x8 tile, the 2x1-1/2 angle plate, and 2x1x2 with front knobs.

I've placed a dark azure 3x3 smooth curvy tile onto the new plate to give reference.


The medium nougat stem gets dark azure to start the boat. The corner plates are new in dark azure too.


With all of the boat's bottom sections finished, we add the aft section.


Here is the brick-built aft section -- it matches up to the ship parts just fine.


A side view of the finished bottom. Using a Teal separator that came with the set to show off the gorgeous medium nougat hull.

Before we work on the walls, we meet our 4th mini-doll ...


Sebastian is new in mini-doll form for 2022. He has dark azure trimmed glass, and his nickname may be Bas.  His skin tone is nougat, the same as Olivia (since 2018).
He also makes an appearance in Street Food Market with the same shirt and jacket, yet with teal shorts. The sand blue pants with medium nougat boots blend well.
His hair is hard plastic in tan with a Superman curl.


We get a sand blue Kitten for the houseboat. New from 2021 and adorable!

There are quite a few newly recolored parts in this set, so I hope I can mention most: Here the 1x3x2 brick with bow and arch is newly recolored in cool yellow; 3x3 plate 1/4 circle with cutout rare in white; 2x2 with inside bow newly recolored cool yellow in 2021 and rare.


While building sides and interior, the fireplace is just so perfect that I needed to get a photo of it before installing. The newer candle flame pieces work great for this teal and black modern heating unit.


Once the fireplace/heater is installed, it gets a pink hearth. We've also installed a cabinet with a flower vase, and drawers for forks and spoons, plus a pillow spot for the kitty.
The beds and stairs are installed. We get a nice collection of spares from bag 3.


After installing the bathroom with trans brown glass airplane/ship door, we lay down a 2x4 cool yellow rounded tile as a rug with sticker.
A game controller also gets clipped in; in pink it's still somewhat rare.
The hinged side is built as a section before attaching.


We add the white shoe slide pieces so the boat can move around easier, plus adds reinforcement to the hull parts.


The hinged side works as intended -- easily opening over the smooth tiles.


We get to build interior furniture items before installing. I've taken a picture before they go inside. A stove with milk for baking the cupcakes in the oven, and a sink counter with bowl of dough and eggs.
The boat's bow gets an orange topped table with the newer cupcake paper in aqua -- which have a stud to secure the frosting part. The 2 stools get sticker cushions matching the rug in a Nordic type of pattern.
The TV sticker above the game controller appears to talk about the 10th Anniversary Friendship Tree House.

We put some cut logs next to the fireplace, plus a pot and whisk in the hinged wall pockets.


All the walls are up and the interior is installed. It's tight, yet efficient -- just as real houseboats.


The boat is done and tiled walls are ready for a roof. The three points of stud connection for easy removal also keep it secure, and allow for the hinged wall of windows to opening for access.
Another nice amount of easily-lost small spares, including a printed cut-log tile.


As we build the rooftop section, we get a new-for-2021 Watering Can, and build a turntable to play a classic Livi record.


This is how far we get to a rooftop, with white railings topped with dark azure. The 1x3 arch parts appear newly recolored into dark azure -- and make a lovely flow with the rest of the tiled sides.
The "15" sticker is the number for the boat (possibly a designer's year at TLG), and the name of "Josefine" is probably also in connection with someone in Denmark.


Now we get to build the rooftop furniture -- my favorite part of Friends sets is this right here! A Lavender cushy chair with a reclining backrest, with another in orange to go with the lovely Teal sofa!
All 3 can be removed easily, or rearranged.


The seating is added, the lights are strung from the solar panel post to the Apple Tree for a very cheery setting. I love that we get gems as light bulbs in 3 colors.
The fire pit is perfect in a dark grey inverted dish.


Next we build the raised-bed type of veggie planters into crates that will allow plants grown on the sunny rooftop. Using the posing pieces in black for feet, they can be taken off the boat too. They don't attach per se, yet fit in between studs. The bricks the plants are growing in do not connect with the crate interiors, so mind them when moving the boat around.


Last bag is #7 and here are the spares, including gems and a Ladybug.


With the garden crates placed on top, the rooftop module is finished.
It's fun that we get a vintage rubbery bush that we snap out of its sprue :-)

The completed Canal Houseboat.

I like the floral greenery attached to the sides -- along with the potted plants, they really give the boat a homey feel.

I love the round windows!


You may have noticed I have not applied the side stickers, or a few others. That was supposed to happen several steps back ... yet I wanted to see the Houseboat without them.
Since our reviews are created for AFOLs, I feel fine averting some stickers. I realize for kids, it's no big deal, and they like them. I do appreciate certain stickers for artistic elements.
Plus, as an MOCer, I would like to re-use these wonderful medium nougat parts for other creations!


These are the stickers for the set. The stickers for the hull sides (#16) are also very decorative. They are certainly Dutch looking.
I also didn't see the need for flower stickers, when we attach brick flowers. The #14 stickers goes on the purple skateboard.


The box art shows the stickers on the houseboat -- so you can know what it looks like. It is pretty, yet, in person they seem superfluous.

The boxes for 2022 no longer have the BFF heart of the core 5 Friends in the upper right, yet they do still have curvy flanges. It's nice to still have the mini-doll cameos.


Box backs no longer has the core 5 Friends along the bottom left in 2022. Instead the space is used by scene insets.

It contains 7 parts bags, plus a soft bag for the hull pieces, and a thick instructions book (186p) with stickers wrapped in soft plastic for preventing damage.
For an inventory of all the parts, see LEGO's instructions site for 41702.


Rooftop conversations with old and new Friends.


The aft area has a shower, which is where the trans blue round peg seems to represent a shampoo bottle.  Plus, a storage box for paint supplies under the stairs to the rooftop.


Removing the garden planters allows a better look at the living space on the rooftop.

    The solid non-opening side: square windows with one round.


One last look at Josephine -- a newly renovated Canal Houseboat in Heartlake City.


Summary:

It's really nice to get a boat that is for living and enjoying life. Mission boats are fine for a specific sub-theme (rescue, etc.), yet having one just for life in Heartlake City is refreshing!

Although the box states it does not float, this would be lovely added to a brick-built waterway -- along interesting architecture buildings. AFOLs can enjoy the building techniques for the "house" part of this boat. There are a lot of parts of the 737 that create the special details and flair. The core "boat" parts easily transfer into building for any theme, really.

This houseboat is so colorful that it's hard to stop looking at it!  Even after seeing the product and box art images beforehand, while building it there seem to be even more details.  It's an inspirational design for any level of builder.


Disclaimer:
This set was provided by The LEGO Group for the purpose of sharing set details with fans.
Opinions provided here solely reflect those of our reviewer.
Photographs are property of FriendsBricks and are not directed by TLG in any fashion.

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