What literary detective is Gregory House primarily modeled on in House M.D.?

Gregory House is primarily modeled on Sherlock Holmes in House M.D. The connection is built into the character's name, his deductive approach, and the way he solves cases by identifying clues that other doctors overlook.

House and Holmes both display exceptional analytical ability, impatience with ordinary conventions, and difficult personalities. In the series, House's friend James Wilson occupies a role that parallels Dr. John Watson, Holmes's companion and narrator in Arthur Conan Doyle's stories.

The parallels extend beyond names. House lives at 221B Baker Street, the famous London address associated with Holmes, and House's reliance on a cane recalls Holmes's occasional use of drugs and other habits only as a loose adaptation rather than a direct equivalent. Episodes often follow a mystery structure in which an apparent diagnosis is replaced by a better explanation.

House is not a literal retelling of the Holmes stories. The character is a physician, and the cases are framed around medical evidence, but the detective influence is the primary literary model.