The house from the original 1990 Home Alone is at 671 Lincoln Avenue in Winnetka, Illinois, north of Chicago. The red-brick front is the real house. The filmmakers built McCallister house interiors in a high school gym in nearby Northfield, and used the school’s swimming pool for the flooded basement set. You can see the Winnetka house from the public street. It’s a private residence. AFI production notes and synopsis · Set decorator Eve Cauley’s account · Illinois tourism’s drive-by guide
| What to watch for | Where it was filmed | What you can see today |
|---|---|---|
| The red-brick front and the airport vans pulling away | The real house on Lincoln Avenue in Winnetka | The street-facing exterior from public space |
| Kevin sleds down the stairs and out the front door | Former owner John Abendshien recalls a temporary ramp for the stunt at the house. Crew interviews give a different account of the interior filming. | The exterior doorway from public space |
| Marv slips on the outside basement steps and Kevin escapes toward a treehouse | Temporary structures on the Winnetka property, according to the family who lived there during filming | The crew removed both structures after filming |
| Kevin topples the shelves in Buzz’s room | Set decorator Eve Cauley describes the stunt and the built interiors. AFI places those interiors in the New Trier West gym. | New Trier’s Northfield campus operates as a school |
| The flooded basement in the Murphy house | A set in the school’s swimming pool | No public movie-set tour was found |
What was filmed at the real Home Alone house?
Look at the red brick and the front entrance when the movie cuts to the McCallister home. That exterior belongs to the house on Lincoln Avenue. The American Film Institute identifies the residence, and cinematographer Julio Macat confirmed that the production used it for exterior shots. AFI production notes · Macat’s account
Watch the two airport vans pull away when the family leaves for O’Hare. The scene shows the real property’s driveway as it looked during filming. The driveway was later altered, so use the brick facade and doorway to recognize the house from the street. Chicago Tribune reporting on the driveway
The crew also built parts of the traps at the real property. Abendshien recalled temporary exterior basement steps and a fake door for Marv’s fall. His family also recalled a treehouse rigged to a zip line for Kevin’s escape. The crew removed both structures after filming. Abendshien family interview
The sled ride is harder to pin down shot by shot. John Abendshien, who lived in the house during filming, recalled the crew using a temporary ramp because the real stairs did not line up with the open front door. Macat and set decorator Eve Cauley describe the house as the exterior location and say the interiors were shot on sets. The accounts leave the finished stunt’s individual interior shots uncertain. Abendshien interview · Macat interview · Cauley interview
Which scenes used the school sets?
Buzz’s bedroom. Set decorator Eve Cauley recalled preparing three copies of each item for the scene where Kevin falls from the shelves in Buzz’s room. She says the crew built the house interiors, which AFI places in the New Trier West gym. Cauley on the bedroom stunt · AFI on the gym sets
The flooded basement. Near the end of the movie, Harry and Marv catch Kevin at the partially flooded Murphy house across the street. Marley comes to his rescue. For filming, the crew built the flooded basement set in the school pool. AFI production notes and plot synopsis
The gangster movie Kevin watches. The crew also filmed Angels with Filthy Souls on the gym soundstage. The black-and-white scene came from a small set built for Home Alone. Kevin later plays the clip to scare the pizza delivery driver. Filmmakers and art department on the scene · AFI plot synopsis
Can you visit the Home Alone house today?
You can see the front exterior of 671 Lincoln Avenue from the public street. Illinois’s tourism office lists it as a drive-by stop. The house is privately owned, and we found no current public interior tour as of November 14, 2026. Keep to public space and leave the driveway and grounds clear. Illinois tourism itinerary · WBEZ on the residence
If you’ve seen photos of guests spending the night there, Airbnb announced that stay as a one-night event in December 2021. The former filming site in Northfield is now an active New Trier campus, where security staff check visitor IDs. We found no public tour of the film’s school sets. Airbnb’s event announcement · New Trier campus safety information
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