Ladbible X Whatsapp
  • iconNews
  • videos
  • entertainment
  • Home
  • News
    • UK News
    • US News
    • Australia
    • Ireland
    • World News
    • Weird News
    • Viral News
    • Sport
    • Technology
    • Science
    • True Crime
    • Travel
  • Entertainment
    • Celebrity
    • TV & Film
    • Netflix
    • Music
    • Gaming
    • TikTok
  • LAD Originals
    • Say Maaate to a Mate
    • Daily Ladness
    • Lad Files
    • UOKM8?
    • FreeToBe
    • Extinct
    • Citizen Reef
  • Advertise
  • Terms
  • Privacy & Cookies
  • LADbible Group
  • UNILAD
  • SPORTbible
  • GAMINGbible
  • Tyla
  • UNILAD Tech
  • FOODbible
  • License Our Content
  • About Us & Contact
  • Jobs
  • Latest
  • Topics A-Z
  • Authors
Facebook
Instagram
X
Threads
Snapchat
TikTok
YouTube

LAD Entertainment

YouTube

LAD Stories

Submit Your Content
Woman who lived in Home Alone house during filming reveals what it was like

Home> News> US News

Published 16:37 23 Dec 2024 GMT

Woman who lived in Home Alone house during filming reveals what it was like

A real house that had a real family living there during the filming of Home Alone

Tom Earnshaw

Tom Earnshaw

A woman who grew up in the real life Home Alone house during the creation of the 1990 Christmas classic movie has revealed what it was really like at the time of filming.

For many, it is the greatest festive film ever made and embodies everything about the festive spirit (paint cans and irons to the face aside, maybe). And the warm fuzzy feeling that the film gives many is personified in the house at the centre of filming.

Home Alone follows Macaulay Culkin, who plays eight-year-old Kevin McCallister as he defends their family home in suburban Chicago from the Wet Bandits, Harry and Marv (Joe Pesci and Daniel Stern).

It sees Kevin turn their huge, idyllic home into a boobytrapped jungle of painful goings on for the hapless criminal duo.

And the home is a very real property worth £4 million just outside of Chicago, Illinois.

Advert

Currently in the process of being sold for millions of dollars, it has had a huge makeover since its 1990 days.

But go back 34 years and you had an actual family living in the property. Among those living there, in the wealthy neighbourhood of Winnetka, was Lauren Abendshien.

Lauren Abendshien, whose parents owned the famous McCallister house when the movie was filmed (ITV)
Lauren Abendshien, whose parents owned the famous McCallister house when the movie was filmed (ITV)

Now 40 years old, she was six at the time of the film being made.

Recalling what life at the house was like during the months of filming that took place there, she told ITV's This Morning that they actively lived in the house while filming was happening.

Advert

She said: "We stayed in the house pretty much the entire period, which was about four or five months.

"In order to avoid appearing onscreen, we would have to crawl around the window line from room to room."

The Home Alone house in the film (20th Century Fox)
The Home Alone house in the film (20th Century Fox)

The house regularly hosted crew and cast during downtime, too, with Macaulay Culkin and younger brother Kieran spending a lot of time indoors.

Abendshein said: "They would spend time in the house when they weren't filming their scenes.

Advert

"Macaulay Culkin used my room to study with his tutor and his brother [Kieran], wasn't filming as much, so he would just hang out in my room."

On the success of the film, the Abendshien family said it was 'something special' but that they couldn't have imagined just how big it has become.

The Home Alone house (20th Century Fox)
The Home Alone house (20th Century Fox)

"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 and that was very new to us, but we grew to love it and we shared the magic of the movie," she said.

While external shots of the house were the real deal, a lot of the internal shots were actually from somewhere two miles down the road.

Advert

The film's indoor scenes were shot at New Trier Township High School, an abandoned property that was big enough for the production to create the appropriate sets and a sound stage, with director Chris Columbus unable to do the stunts inside the house due to the space needed for the film crew.

Featured Image Credit: ITV / 20th Century Fox

Topics: Home Alone, Film, Christmas, US News, Macaulay Culkin, Home, Property, Nostalgia

Tom Earnshaw
Tom Earnshaw

Tom joined LADbible Group in 2024, currently working as SEO Lead across all brands including LADbible, UNILAD, SPORTbible, Tyla, UNILAD Tech, and GAMINGbible. He moved to the company from Reach plc where he enjoyed spells as a content editor and senior reporter for one of the country's most-read local news brands, LancsLive. When he's not in work, Tom spends his adult life as a suffering Manchester United supporter after a childhood filled with trebles and Premier League titles. You can't have it all forever, I suppose.

X

@TREarnshaw

Advert

Advert

Advert

Choose your content:

6 hours ago
  • 6 hours ago

    Man, 92, found guilty of murder of woman nearly 60 years ago in UK's 'longest cold case'

    75-year-old Louisa Dunne was murdered in her Bristol home in 1967

    News
  • 6 hours ago

    'Marriage destroyer' holiday hotspot where Brits 'can't stop cheating' revealed

    Time to cancel those flights

    News
  • 6 hours ago

    Brit ranked no.733 in world won't receive £99k prize money despite shock first round win at Wimbledon

    Oliver Tarvet won't see the money because of a sporting rule

    News
  • 6 hours ago

    Police in frantic search for victim's head after reality star girlfriend charged with murder

    Police believe he was killed nearly two weeks ago now

    News
  • Someone bought the iconic Home Alone house and the makeover inside has left fans stunned
  • Home Alone fans are only just realising one major detail about the £4,000,000 McCallister house
  • Macaulay Culkin almost bought the Home Alone house and had a unique plan for the property
  • Home Alone actor who earned millions from special contract reveals the worst injury he got filming the movies