It’s the most wonderful time of the year for the iconic “Home Alone” house, but holiday movie lovers looking to get a glimpse at the nostalgic home in suburban Chicago might be surprised by what changed inside in the years after the film’s release.
Images of the home’s interior first came out when it was sold earlier this year for more than $5 million. Now, as fans flock to their favorite festive film, the disparity is once again fueling questions from many.
Social media posts comparing scenes from the movie to listing images from the home when it was on the market in 2024 have sparked plenty of debate.
In the comments, many decried the home’s modern look.
“I would have paid 10x more for that house if it was kept original. Just like a classic car it’s worth more. Now this house looks like every other house,” one user wrote.
“A moment of silence for what once was a house, and is now a sterile doctors office,” another commented.
“I am all for a modern aesthetic, but I can’t imagine changing that home into that sterile looking padded room,” one user said.
Others said the design changes “removed its soul” and some called it “incredibly depressing.”
The home underwent a major renovation in the past decade, but there’s also another reason for the design changes — at least some of them.
A 2019 episode of Netflix’s series “The Movies That Made Us,” which provides a behind-the-scenes look at the film, explored the filming of “Home Alone” and hurdles encountered during the filming process.
The mansion along Lincoln Avenue was too small for all the crew members to fit inside, director Chris Columbus said, so the team had to come up with a different solution. They still used the home for exterior shots — but actually shot the indoor scenes at New Trier Township High School after it closed due to declining enrollment in 1981.
The original owners of the home during the movie’s filming described their unexpected experience to NBC Chicago earlier this year.
“We lived here during the filming,” John Abendshien said. “We were able to create our own apartment within the home, we had the second-floor master bedroom.”
But Abendshien sold the iconic property in 2012.
Now, with its most recent sale, it appears there’s good news for those commenting on its appearance.
If you visit the home now, you’ll see the front door and some of the windows are boarded up. That’s because the new owner is restoring the home to its “Home Alone” glory and exactly how it looked when the movie was filmed in 1990, NBC Chicago learned over the summer.
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