‘Home Alone’: The Real Homeowners of the McCallister’s Brick Mansion Recall Having to ‘Crawl Around’ To Avoid Getting in Camera Shots
Toward the end of every year, Home Alone emerges from its 10-month dormancy to become one of the most-watched movies of the holiday season. And, once again, the burning question emerges: What did Kevin’s parents do to afford such a beautiful home?
Well, Home Alone was only a movie, and that brick estate actually belonged to a real family in the suburbs of Chicago. And one member of the family recently recalled what it was like having her home turn into a Hollywood set.
‘Home Alone’ always has fans asking what Kevin McCallister’s parents did for a living
The 1990 film, along with its popular sequel Home Alone 2: Lost In New York both feature a large, brick home in the Chicago suburbs as the McCallister family home. And each year, people question what Kevin’s parents do for a living to afford such a luxurious estate. The real home’s location is accurate: It’s located at 671 Lincoln Ave. in Winnetka, Illinois — a Chicago suburb.
Though it’s never revealed what Kevin’s parents do, the home definitely presents that question. According to realtor.com, the house boasts six bedrooms, four bathrooms, along with more than 4,200 square feet. The website also shows current photos of the property, and while it’s been updated since the film, fans can clearly still remember scenes of the movie filmed throughout, such as near the staircase and entryway. The home’s current estimated value is nearly $2 million.
The real owners of the home had to ‘crawl around’ windows to avoid being seen
Lauren Abendshien, who was six years old and a resident of the home at the time of filming, recalled on a U.K. morning show what it was actually like having the movie take place in her house.
“We stayed in the house pretty much the entire period, which was about four or five months,” Abendshien said, according to People. “In order to avoid appearing onscreen, we would have to crawl around the window line from room to room.” It’s not so common for a movie to be filmed on location. Usually, homes are just props, and the actual movie is filmed on a Hollywood set. This was the case for certain rooms in the film, but for other rooms, such as the kitchen, the Abendshien’s home was the set.
The cast would spend time at the home in between filming
Abendshien also recalled how the actors would spend time around the home in between takes. “Macaulay Culkin used my room to study with his tutor, and his brother [Keiran] wasn’t filming as much, so he would just hang out in my room,” she recalled.
Abendshien also remembers that, at the time, her family wasn’t aware that the film would be such a blockbuster hit. The movie ended up shaping Macaulay Culkin’s entire career, and now, 30 years later, it’s still re-watched by millions each season.
“It was very surreal when the movie came out and all of a sudden it’s holiday season in 1990 and it was an endless row of cars and people wanted to see the house and take photographs.”
