“This is my house! I have to defend it!” said a baby-faced Macaulay Culkin in 1990. And now…it belongs to a new owner. The iconic house that served as the unforgettable backdrop for the 90s holiday classic Home Alone hit the market in May 2024 with a listing price of $5.25 million (£4.1 million) – it's now sold for over asking price at $5.5 million. Set in the affluent suburb of Winnetka, Illinois, the house is as much a piece of cinematic history as it is a mammoth piece of real estate. This was the first time that the house has been publicly listed since 2012 according to the American estate agent, Zillow.
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The Georgian-style mansion, located on Lincoln Avenue, became a star in its own right after its feature in Home Alone where it was portrayed as the McCallister family home. In the film, young Kevin McCallister, played by Macaulay Culkin, is accidentally left behind when his family heads to Paris for Christmas. Cue: nice, festive chaos. The house is a typical idyllic white-picket-fenced family home often portrayed in American family comedies and has a real nostalgic, homely charm not unlike the now-legendary Nancy Myers sets (see: Father of the Bride).
Built in the 1920s, the house has five bedrooms and six bathrooms. Its red-brick exterior and classic Georgian architectural details are classic in this affluent Illinoian suburb. The interior is impressive, with well-preserved original features (both original to the period and - more importantly - original to the 1990 film) including a grand staircase (for setting up booby traps), a wood-burning fireplace (to climb into), and a basement cinema (presumably for watching Home Alone in?)
In 2021 Airbnb offered a ‘one-night-only rental’ of the Home Alone house in Winnetka, where actor Devin Ratray (who played Kevin McCallister's older brother Buzz) welcomed guests for their stay. It seems the owners are now ready to move on from rental.
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The house still has the same homely feel as in the film, but it's enjoyed some modern updates in the last three decades. Estate agent The Dawn Mckenna Group posted a walkthrough video of the interiors, stating that the current owners have “doubled” the living space in the house. The renovations also apparently included the addition of a modern conservatory and a ‘state-of-the-art’ basketball court.
The house's exterior, particularly its snow-covered façade during the film’s climactic scenes is still a family classic, and the listing is an opportunity to claim a slice of Hollywood history.
