Located at 671 Lincoln Avenue in the Chicago suburb of Winnetka, Illinois, the house that was used in the beloved Christmas movie
Home Alone is still a tourist draw. When director Chris Columbus decided he wanted to use the house as the setting for the film, he described the stately 5-bedroom Georgian house as “warming and menacing.” That came as a surprise to owner John Abendshein, who always thought the house had a “warm vibe.” It wasn’t until he saw the film and the scene where Kevin is preparing to do battle with the “Wet Bandits” that he got the menacing part.
Home Alone was released in 1990 and immediately became a smash hit, topping the box office for three months. In the 35 years since, the tale of eight-year-old Kevin McCallister (Macaulay Culkin) defending his home from a pair of dim-witted robbers by any means necessary has cemented its status as a beloved Christmas staple. Abendshien, a healthcare strategist, bought the home for $875,000. When Columbus and his crew arrived to start shooting
Home Alone, Abendshien and his family initially moved out. However, after realizing it would be more convenient for them to be on site, they moved back in. The house was large enough for them to have several rooms to themselves while filming continued. The only restriction was if they were doing exterior filming, the family couldn’t go by the windows. As soon as the film came out, Abendshien had to contend with fans walking up to the house and pressing their faces to the windows to peer inside. To this day, hundreds of visitors come to the home each day, with roads often needing to be closed off during the holidays to deal with the serious traffic. As overwhelming as the attention the house received felt at first, Abendshien says he came to feel he’d been given a blessing. He sold the property in 2012 for $1,585,000, but has fond memories of his time there. In fact, he wrote a memoir,
Home But Alone No More, about his many experiences meeting the fans of the film who came to visit. Here are some photos of the house when the film was released and the remodeled rooms today.
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