Monday, April 29, 2024

How Rich Was the McCallister Family in Home Alone? Inside the Holiday-Favorite Familys Wealth

mccallister home alone house

In the middle of 2022, a similar house would cost about $2.4 million, based on the Zillow estimate for the “Home Alone” house. A home of that value would be affordable to a household with income of $730,000, which would be in the top 1% of Chicago-area households, the economists said. In 1990, the house was affordable only for the top 1% of Chicago household incomes, and that would still be the case today, according to economists at the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago. In the second film, it is revealed to be still under the ownership of Rob and Georgette, but is undergoing renovations. Peter (John Heard) and Kate McCallister (Catherine O’Hara) would’ve been earning at least $305,000 annually in 1990 (or about $665,000 in 2022) to afford the house, which is located on the North shore of Chicago. No wonder thieves Harry (Joe Pesci) and Marv (Daniel Stern) specifically target the McCallister home as the one to rob in the film.

Home Alone House: Inside The Iconic Kevin McCallister House 30 Years Later!

The tree house in the backyard was specifically built for the first film and dismantled after filming ended. A real family lives there today, and there’s a small fence that keeps out brazen fans. The circular driveway is gone now — a landscaping detail nearly every visitor is quick to point out — depriving fans a look at the place where Kevin was left out of a family head count before the airport.

How the Film Came to Be

In a successful attempt to save his house from robbery, Kevin created an elaborate web of misery-inflicting booby traps for Harry and Marv to encounter. Home Alone opens with a gorgeous look at a holiday-adorned suburban Chicago neighborhood, landing on the McCallister family’s home. The sprawling house was stunning by 1990 standards – the year the first film came out – and still stands today in one of the Windy City’s most affluent areas, Winnetka. In a delightful throwback, Laura Abendshien, a former resident whose family’s home served as the filming location, reminisced during an interview with the U.K. She shared amusing anecdotes about Macaulay Culkin, who played Kevin, using her room for study sessions with his tutor while his brother Keiran hung out during filming breaks.

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This is a modern, recent photo of the house used in "Home Alone," but the photo was posted online in 2020. Amanda Holpuch watched “Home Alone” for the first time while reporting this story. Morning show This Morning interviewed an American woman who grew up in the real Home Alone house.

mccallister home alone house

According to "Home Alone" director Chris Columbus, it was no surprise that the house became such an iconic image. In an interview with Parade, he explained that John Hughes, who wrote "Home Alone" (and many other movies set in the Chicagoland area), called the house "perfect" upon seeing a photo. It's a local tourist attraction, complete with a listing on Atlas Obscura, a website dedicated to unusual travel destinations. The house is located at 671 Lincoln Ave., in Winnetka, Illinois, a northern suburb of Chicago. It is still a private home, however, so visitors must remember to be respectful of the block's residents.

Home Alone Robbers

Gone are the days of green and red wallpaper and red carpeting on the stairs in the foyer – now replaced with modern grey paint and blue & white carpeting. The kitchen has also undergone some extensive work, now featuring elegant white shaker cabinets, green tile backsplash, and a small breakfast bar. The tacky wallpaper in the master suite has been replaced with a chic grey & white striped print. Additionally, the once hardwood floors are now decked out in white carpeting. The dining room, which featured red walls in the film, is now adorned in a warm cream color painted with vines and pear trees.

Just how rich were the McCallisters in ‘Home Alone?’

Like Rockwell, Cauley used saturated greens, reds, and golds to stand out against the white fluffy snow. “I thought of it like a flip-book, where use of color orchestrated throughout would give the film a warm feeling,” says Cauley. In the film, Kevin sets elaborate traps in order to catch the burglars attempting to break into his home. Following the release of Home Sweet Home Alone in 2021 (the sixth sequel to the original), Airbnb reopened the doors to the home. While the Airbnb experience is no longer on the table, you can stream the original Home Alone, Home Alone 2, and the rest of the sequels on Disney+. According to an article written in 2015 for the Chicago Sun-Times, writer Richard Roeper stopped by the house in the winter of 1991 and reported that 400 vehicles had lined up outside 671 Lincoln Ave on both Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.

Macaulay Culkin returns to Home Alone house as Kevin McCallister to recreate iconic scenes - UNILAD

Macaulay Culkin returns to Home Alone house as Kevin McCallister to recreate iconic scenes.

Posted: Fri, 17 Nov 2023 08:00:00 GMT [source]

These days, a quick search in Google Maps will lead you straight to the house, making a trip to 671 Lincoln Ave accessible and easy. Dawn Silvers, an Illinois resident and lover of the movie, visited the Home Alone house this Thanksgiving. Silvers and her youngest child originally made the drive to Chicago for a concert, and then decided to tack on a visit to Winnetka.

Locations in the house

Last sold in 2012 for $1.585 million, the Home Alone house is now worth north of $2 million — with real estate websites like Zillow, Realtor.com, and Redfin estimating its worth at around $2,300,000. Briefly listed on Airbnb in early December, the suburban Chicago home of the McCallisters offered a one-night stay to die-hard fans, accommodating up to 4 people for a mere $25/night (plus taxes). For the first time in over 30 years, the Home Alone house opened up to the public in 2021. For a very limited time, people could book a short stay at the iconic holiday house. The remaining scenes filmed in the McCallister house were recreated or duplicated on a soundstage built in the gymnasium of the former campus of New Trier Township High School. The iconic suburban home also has a large kitchen, a detached double garage, and a greenhouse.

mccallister home alone house

2021 also marked a reboot for the film, though the new version, “Home Sweet Home Alone,” was filmed in Montreal. For an exterior shot, Home Alone 4 uses a different house than the first two films. It is far smaller compared to the one from the first two movies, and is also missing the front drive.

The Times points out that Peter's brother is the one who footed the bill to fly the whole gang to Paris, with the adults all sitting in first class. It's also mentioned that he has a pied-a-terre in the city with views of the Eiffel Tower that would presumably be large enough to house everyone. But the immediate McCallister family aren't the wealthiest characters in the movie. The Times' investigation also digs into how the McCallisters' may have afforded the impressive spread and their spoiled Christmas vacation, including hypothesizing about the parents' undisclosed jobs. Ogling the McCallister family's classic brick home is a traditional part of any Home Alone viewing.

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