Where Was “Home Alone” Filmed: Can You Visit The Home?

Home Alone is a classic, along with films like The Grinch, A Christmas Story, Elf, and A Christmas Carol. It’s hard to run into someone who hasn’t heard of this beloved 90s holiday movie featuring big stars like Catherine O’Hara, Joe Pesci, Daniel Stern, John Heard, and Macaulay Culkin. But what is this movie about, and where was “Home Alone” filmed? Can you visit the filming locations? Follow along to find out.

What is ‘Home Alone’ About?

Home Alone is a great Holiday movie. It’s funny, action-packed, and also heartwarming. Spoilers ahead as we discuss the premise of this film.

This 1990 American Christmas comedy film was released in the United States on November 16, 1990. The running time for this film is 103 minutes. Home Alone had a budget of $18 million but grossed $476.7 million worldwide.

Home Alone follows a young boy named Kevin in Illinois. He is the youngest son and is somehow forgotten by his family at home as they rush in the morning to take a Christmas trip to Paris. Kevin wakes up alone at home due to a chaotic morning and his alarm not going off. Finally, alone, Kevin excitedly plays and runs throughout the home.

While home alone, a pair of burglars called the “Wet Bandits” try to target the home, not knowing that Kevin was left behind. It takes Kate, Kevin’s mother, half of the flight to Paris to realize her Kevin is not with them. In a panic, she attempts to book flights home, only to find that all flights are full for the next two days. The rest of the family stays in Paris as Kate flies to Pennsylvania and gets a ride with a polka band.

The two bandits, Harry and Marv, figure out Kevin is home and knows about their crimes. Kevin, the hilarious genius kid he is, fills the home with booby traps, which the bandits fall for. Harry and Marv nearly get Kevin, but they are stopped by Marley, an old man and neighbor of Kevin. More happens within the film, but that would take a long time to explain. With this context, let’s learn where the film was shot.

Where Was “Home Alone” Filmed?

Interestingly, Home Alone was mainly filmed in Illinois. Although the family in the film travels to Paris, no part of the movie was filmed abroad. For instance, the main character’s home is in the North Shore village of Winnetka, Illinois. The address of this three-story house is 671 Lincoln Avenue. Although the house’s exterior was used in the film, not all ‘inside’ scenes were shot in the home. Many of the scenes where Kevin is setting up booby traps were filmed in constructed sets. Other filming locations within Illinois include Hubbard Woods Park, New Trier Township High School, Grace Episcopal Church, and O’Hare International Airport.

So, what is Winnetka like? Winnetka is a charming town/village with a population of around 12,000. This village is part of Cook County, Illinois. The surface area of Winnetka is nearly 4 square miles.

Winnetka is known as a gorgeous filming location. Not only was Home Alone filmed within this town, but also Sixteen Candles, Ocean’s 12, Breakfast Club, She’s Having a Baby, and Ferris Bueller’s Day Off.

Can You Visit the “Home Alone” House?

The Home Alone house is extremely popular and eye-catching. Although visiting from the outside is a popular tourist attraction, the home is privately owned. You cannot go inside unless personally invited by the owners. According to Zillow, this incredible home is estimated to be $2,346,200. The range, though, puts it at nearly 3 million. This home has ten bedrooms and six bathrooms. It has a surface area of 5,398 square feet.

The house is currently not for sale. The last time it was sold was in 2012 for $1,585,000. While you can’t go inside the home, you can drive past it in Chicago. Remember, people live in this home so be respectful.

Wildlife in Winnetka, Illinois

Are you curious about the type of wildlife you can find in Winnetka, Illinois? In Illinois, there are over 54,000 species. Over seventy of these species are mammals. Common mammals in Illinois include eastern red bats, plains pocket gophers, and house mice. There are many more birds to see in Winnetka than mammals. Within the state, there are over 450 bird species. Specific birds you may see in Winnetka are red-winged blackbirds, house sparrows, ring-necked ducks, and green herons.

The photo featured at the top of this post is © Lynne Mitchell/iStock via Getty Images