The iconic house located north of Chicago that served as the setting for the 1990 Christmas movie Home Alone is for sale, reported The Wall Street Journal. The current owners, Tim and Trisha Johnsonhave decided to put this property located at 671 de Lincoln Ave. in Winnetka, Illinoiswith an initial price of USD 5.25 million. The couple acquired the house in 2012 for USD 1.58 million.
According to Trisha Johnsonthe couple has extensively renovated the property since purchasing, although several characteristic elements that appear in the film have been kept intact. “We didn’t want to touch the front door or the central staircase where Kevin slides with a sled. That is classic and we wanted it to stay the same,” he explained.
Originally built in the 1920s, the red Georgian-style house located in Winnetka measures about 530 square meters and sits on land of 0.2 hectares (half an acre).
In addition to being popular for its appearance in the cinema, the house was also featured in 1974 in the magazine Better Homes & Gardens thanks to its redesigned kitchen, he reported Vanity Fair. For film recordings, John and Cynthia Abendshien were the owners and allowed several scenes to be filmed inside the house, including the iconic scene in which Macaulay Culkin (Kevin) slides down the ladder, according to MovieFone.
The demand for real estate in Winnetka has grown, while the supply has been reduced. “Every year it seems like we have more buyers looking, and inventory is very tight,” he said. Katie Moor of Coldwell Banker Realtywho is in charge of the sale together with Dawn McKenna. In April, the average sales price in the city was about USD 1.4 million4% less than the previous year, according to data from redfin.
Trisha said that when they bought the house, she didn’t know it was the same house from her favorite movie. “When our real estate agent added it to our list of houses to see, we discovered it was in Winnetka.” The property fulfilled the woman’s dream of having a Georgian-style red brick house with a large garden.
The home’s living room has seven custom seats and a wet bar, features added during the renovation four years after the purchase. The Johnson family hosted their niece and friends to see My poor angel in the residence’s cinema room. “Of course, after the movie, photos were taken on the staircase and in the front of the house,” Trisha added.
Vanity Fair He mentioned that, during filming, the Abendshien They took refuge in the master bedroom while the scenes were filmed. Her daughter, Lauren, remembered grabbing candy from the food cart and meeting the stars. “We learned that if the snow doesn’t bounce off your shoulders or head, it’s because they’re spreading potato flakes in your hair,” he said. Cynthia Abendshien in a sales video Coldwell Banker from 2011.
The house also had a brief resurgence in 2021 when Airbnb rented it for one night in December, allowing a few lucky people to experience the house My poor angel.
John Hughes, the film’s writer and producer, was known for preferring locations in the Chicago area and northern suburbs. Apart from “Home Alone”, many of his other films were also filmed in that area, such as Sixteen Candles and The Breakfast Club.
The sale of the home offers fans of the film the unique opportunity to own a piece of cinema history. However, the Johnsons have decided to sell to take advantage of current market conditions, which has boosted the property’s value significantly since its acquisition more than a decade ago.
Source: Infobae