What Kevin McCallister's house from "Home Alone" looks like now (10 photos)

Comparison photos of the house used in the film "Home Alone" are gaining popularity online. The interior has changed beyond recognition.





In November 1990, the cult Christmas film premiered, becoming one of the best holiday movies of all time. "Home Alone" was a hit, making eight-year-old actor Macaulay Culkin a true screen star. Like the mansion from the previous famous film, "Ghostbusters," the McCallister family home has become a character in its own right.



A boy named Kevin McCallister is abandoned by his family on Christmas Eve and is forced to defend his home from intruders terrorizing the neighborhood. Thanks to the large size of his home and his resourcefulness, the young hero successfully confronts the criminals.





This film made Macaulay Culkin one of the brightest stars of children's cinema, and the McCallister house gained popularity in its own right. Thirty-five years have passed since the film's release. During this time, the interior of the iconic mansion has undergone significant changes. It was first sold in 2012, and the new owners redid everything to their taste. Now, after renovations, the house is once again listed with real estate agencies. Its listing appeared last year.



Apparently, due to the onset of Christmas fever, fans of the comedy noticed photos of the iconic house with its updated furnishings and began comparing them with the original. Ultimately, the comparisons were not in favor of the former. While the original house was filled with warmth and homeliness, thanks to the Christmas colors—burgundy and dark green hues combined with wood trim—the updated version felt cold and lifeless.



The designers completely departed from the previous classical concept in favor of minimalism. They chose cool white tones combined with shades of gray as the main interior color. As a result, fans of the film "Home Alone" were unhappy that the cozy, fairytale-like space had been transformed into the Snow Queen's palace.



"A striking example of how the word 'progress' has entered the swear word," "Modern aesthetics lack fullness. What we see here can be described as 'the emptiness of life.' People are beginning to understand this and therefore reject it." "Is this a morgue?" "It looks like a morgue," commented most fans. True, there were those who liked the house's minimalist style, but they were few and far between.



By the way, although the film depicts the house as being in Chicago, it's actually located in Winnetka, Illinois, at 671 Lincoln Avenue. Dating back to 1920, the house is a red brick Georgian mansion set on a roughly half-acre lot with approximately 4,200 square feet of living space. It features five bedrooms, including a four-bedroom master suite occupying the entire west side of the house, and three bathrooms.



John and Cinty Abendschein, the owners of the house during filming, agreed to make their property available to the producers. According to director Chris Columbus, finding the right location proved challenging:

"We needed a house that was suitable for filming, visually appealing, and had a sense of warmth and mystery at the same time. It was important that a child would want to spend time there alone... We wanted to create a sense of timelessness," he shared.



Despite the house's key role in the plot, most of the interior shots were not filmed in real spaces, but on a specially equipped set in the school gym. In interviews, director Chris Columbus didn't specify which rooms were sets and which were real, so it's difficult to say for sure.

For example, the kitchen played a significant role in the film, but its current appearance differs significantly from the original design. It's likely that the changes were the result of a renovation, or some scenes were originally filmed elsewhere.