What fictional address connects House M.D. to Sherlock Holmes?

House M.D. connects Gregory House to Sherlock Holmes through the fictional address 221B Baker Street.

House’s apartment is identified as 221B Baker Street, the famous London address associated with Sherlock Holmes in Arthur Conan Doyle’s stories. This is one of several deliberate parallels between the two characters. House resembles Holmes in his deductive reasoning, drug use, difficult personality, and preference for solving puzzles.

James Wilson provides another Holmes connection because his surname echoes Dr. John Watson, Holmes’s companion. The series also uses cases as mysteries, with symptoms functioning as clues and incorrect diagnoses serving as false leads.

The address is not meant to place House in London; the series remains set primarily in New Jersey. It is an allusion embedded in the show’s characterization. The number 221B is the canonical Holmes address, while 221A is a common but incorrect variation.