After 35 years of bringing viewers Christmas joy, Kevin McCallister's house is being restored to its full glory.
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The buyer, whose name has not been released, is the third person to live there since the movie was shot. According to Dawn McKenna and Katie Moor, who were listing agents on the property, the owners are super excited about the home's cultural significance. "Like everybody else, they love the significance of the home and its place in cinematic history. They understand that and embrace that," they shared.
The new buyers are the first to move in since Tim and Trisha Johnson purchased the house in 2012. The couple renovated it then, but now, it seems that the house is going back to the 90s.
Although there are renovations to be done, many of the house's original features do still remain intact. "The current owners took the utmost care in maintaining the architectural detail and integrity of the home's most memorable and recognizable spaces," reads the listing on Zillow. "The gracious foyer and unforgettable entry staircase, as well as the formal living and dining room spaces, all remain largely unchanged in form and structure."
The house was recently bought by its new owners for around $5.5 million.
The History of The 'Home Alone' House
Before its last owners, the iconic Home Alone house was lived in by John Abendshein and his family. They bought the house in 1988 before filming began. Abendshein admitted years later in his memoir, Home but Alone No More, that he would not have pegged himself to be the owner of an iconic piece of pop culture. Abendshein has a career in healthcare strategy, and has had nothing to do with the film industry otherwise.
People who knew me back then would say that I was not a likely candidate to have my house used as a movie location. If you could find a poster child for the opposite of Hollywood, that would probably be me," Abendshein wrote.
Apparently, before the Abendsheins moved from their previous home in Chicago, the family had almost been chosen to house the set for a John Hughes film. Since they were so lovely to work with, the same location manager remembered them later on. When director Chris Columbus was in search of a house like the Winnetka, Illionois, one, they were an obvious choice.
For John and his family, memories of filming in the house are fond ones to look back on. "Before the filming of Home Alone, I had no concept of how movies were produced," he admitted in his memoir. "I gained a genuine appreciation for the challenges and complexities of movie production. I was also totally awed as I saw it all come together when I saw the movie that first time."
Photo By: 20th Century Fox
