What’s changed at the iconic ‘Home Alone’ house 30 years later

The red brick, Georgian house that 8-year-old Kevin McAllister defended in Home Alone, still looks the mostly the same from the outside even thirty years later.

John Hughes, who grew up on the North Shore, wanted the movie to be filmed in a real neighborhood—not a set. The filmmaker found the perfect set in the Winnetka home on Lincoln Avenue.

Even though Home Alone was released in 1990, fans still roll through the neighborhood. There are only minor changes to the exterior since filming: two white columns around the front door and a gated, iron fence around the property.

Many of the iconic scenes took place in real parts of the home. The staircase that Kevin slides his toboggan down? That existed. So did the living room, dining room, and the attic space. Though, there were sets created for the kitchen, basement stairs, and second floor at nearby school.

The home has only been sold once since the movie. It went on the market in 2011 and the listing received international attention. There was a promo video featuring the owners discussing what it was like to have a movie made at their house. Movie posters were created for the listing. And, the real estate agent Marissa Hopkins talked up the home on the Today Show and dozens of other media outlets. It sold about a year later for $1.585 million (the original asking price was $2.4 million).

So how does the Home Alone home’s actual interior line up with the movie? It’s much different. For instance, the festive red wallpaper never actually existed, it was added for the film. The true decor is much more traditional, which you can see in a video tour created back when the home was for sale.

Just across the street, the turreted mansion that belonged to old man Marley in the film benefited from Home Alone fame, too. It sold in 2003 for $3 million and was listed again at a similar price in 2014 but later taken off the market.