Inside Fascinating History of Real-Life ‘Home Alone’ House—as New Owners Get Set To Restore $5.5 Million Property to Its Festive Movie Glory

"Home Alone" is a seminal Christmas classic that airs on millions of screens across the world every festive season, more than three decades after the movie premiered.

Some obsess over the chaotic storyline in which a young boy, Kevin McCallister—played by Macaulay Culkin—is abandoned home alone by his family as they jet off on a trip to Paris for the holiday season. As many will know, he then ends up taking on two bungling burglars in a battle of wits, turning his house into a veritable booby trap in a bid to stop the criminals in their tracks.

However, over the years, another star has emerged from the movie classic: the stunning Chicago area mansion in which Kevin is left behind.

The property has become the stuff of legend over the years—particularly its iconic green-and-red Christmas decor that has prompted some to hail it the perfect festive house.

Devout fans of the movie flocked to the upscale neighborhood in Winnetka, IL, to take pictures in front of the home, many of them doing their version of Kevin's hands on cheeks like "The Scream" pose. The house has become a veritable cinematic shrine.

However, most fans have been met with disappointment after learning that the incredible festive decor depicted on screens was never a part of the home's aesthetic at all, but rather an image conjured up by the film's creators to depict the perfect holiday home.

Upset over the home's current state boiled over in May 2024, when the property was put on the market for $5.25 million—the first time it had been listed in 12 years—with listing images revealing that the dwelling had a complete overhaul that saw the entire interior gray-washed, removing any trace of the lasting cinematic charm.

Social media was seething.

Now, however, its new owner—who purchased the property for $5.5 million in January—hopes to right those holiday wrongs by renovating the five-bedroom, six-bathroom abode to turn it into a real-life version of the house depicted in the "Home Alone" movies.

NBC affiliate Chicago 5 reported that the current owners of the elegant home have hired local project manager Scott Price to move forward with the plan—and are confident that they can bring to life the moviemakers' original vision.

"Our vision is to bring back the warmth and just the love from the movie," Price told NBC Chicago. "There was so many great colors and it just made you feel like family and like home and we want to bring that magic back," Price said.

It marks a long road for the property, which has been listed only a handful of times since the movie was released in 1990.

Culkin himself had interest in purchasing it at one point, telling The New York Times: "I had half a mind to buy it—just for giggles."

The actor said he imagined turning the fictional home into a "movie fun house" where people could sled down the stairs just like Kevin does in the movie.

Interestingly, the fan furor surrounding the home's modernized appearance was somewhat baseless—with the movie's creative team revealing in the Netflix series "The Movies That Made Us" that they gave the dwelling a Hollywood makeover for the purposes of the film, one that was never meant to be permanent.

First of all, it was almost exclusively the exterior of the famed home located at 671 Lincoln Ave. that was used for filming. Yes, those were the home's real front porch steps that Daniel Stern (or his stunt double) took a tumble down, and that was the driveway the cars pulled up into to take the large family, sans Kevin, to the airport.

The front exterior today is relatively similar and easily identifiable, although the driveway is no longer circular and the landscaping has been changed. That's been the real draw over all these decades.

The interiors of the home, however, were mostly created and shot on a soundstage built in a nearby abandoned high school gymnasium, where the film's production offices were also located.

That was, incidentally, the same high school that producer, director, and prolific screenwriter John Hughes had also used for scenes from a couple of his other major hits, including "Ferris Bueller's Day Off" and "Uncle Buck."

"We couldn't really shoot in their house," said production designer John Muto. "It was too small. We could barely get the crew in the door." Only the home's main staircase, attic and parts of the first floor landing showed up in the film.

The flooded basement? The crew needed a watertight soundstage for that scene, so they savvily constructed the set in the school's empty pool, where overflowing water would not be an issue.

As for the off-site home's decor, the set design crew had a definite agenda: make it as Christmassy as possible. They used elaborate red, green, and cream wallpaper throughout, and other staged rooms were painted jade and burgundy.

"A little garish, isn't it?" Muto laughed.

When viewers really start looking for the red and green theme, they see there are green sofas with red throw pillows, Kevin's parents have a red comforter over them, and red, green, and cream flowered wallpaper behind them. The kitchen tiles were green. The bathroom towels were green. Even the phone Kevin used was green!

The house, had it really existed, would have screamed "Christmas!" all year round. No wonder fans found it so comforting and cozy. But they just had to accept the fact that Hollywood fantasies can't last forever.

Until about a week ago, when Price elaborated on the current owners' (who wish to remain nameless) fondness for the film and plans for it moving forward. "We love this movie; it was a really important movie in our childhood and that’s true for the family that owns the house too," Price said.

No specific details or timelines have been given yet—just a vague outline of intention.

But in the meantime, seasonal enthusiasm for the house could be satisfied by a gingerbread facsimile thereof that was open to the public in Hollywood.

In recognition of the film's 35th anniversary, Disney+ and Hulu, where viewers can watch the film and its sequels any time they like, constructed the world’s largest gingerbread house inspired by the iconic McCallister home.

The house stood at a whopping 58 feet long, 42 feet wide, and 25.6 feet tall, and smashed an official Guinness World record title held since 2013.