The Whitcraft and Tucker boats that I have seen appeared to be saltier than typical notions of a houseboat. They have formed bows, higher freeboard, strictly inboard power, etc. Shallow draft, admittedly, flat deadrise and rather exposed running gear. Crossing the Stream or a Great Lake on a breezy day might be a little overambitious, but you could probably go lots of places if you can take enough time to pick your weather.
FWIW, last year a Whitcraft lingered for months for sale on Craig's List here in Jacksonville, FL. Nice interior, but the engines had been removed - it was used as a floating business office at a marina. The asking price kept ticking down, though very gradually. Soon after it hit $10K OBO, the ad disappeared from CL.
A year or so before that, a nice-looking Tucker was for sale at the Acosta Creek marina, about forty miles upriver from here. It remained on the market for quite a while at a price of around $85K, as I recall. The seller eventually reported that it been bought and returned on its own bottom to Cincinnati, where those predominantly aluminum boats were built by a commercial towboat yard. That example had twin six-cylinder Perkins diesels with V-drives.
We ourselves struggle regularly with just what a "trawler" is, so throwing a houseboat into the mixture just makes the stew a little more spicy.
