How Rich Are the McCallisters in “Home Alone”? Report Says They're in the 1%

A new investigation by the 'New York Times' delves into the real cost of the famous 'Home Alone' house and the fictional family's finances

Ogling the McCallister family's classic brick home is a traditional part of any Home Alone viewing.

The stately pile is a real place fans can visit. The Winnetka, Ill., house is a private property, but admirers can still drive past it for a moment of holiday nostalgia. It's allure has lingered for more than three decades, inspiring a one-of-a-kind Airbnb stay complete with booby traps, several remarkable replica gingerbread houses, and a video game adaptation, among many other tributes.

But just how much is it worth in reality? And what does that tell us about the fictional family that lives there?

In a new report by the New York Times, financial experts weigh in.

Related: The Home That Inspired Kate Winslet's Cozy Cottage from 'The Holiday' Is Now on the Market for $820K  

According to economists at the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago who worked with the Times, in 1990 (the year the film was released), the McCallister family home could have only been afforded by the top 1% of Chicago households, with an income of about $305,000 (or $665,000 in 2022).

Zillow estimates the current off-market value of the home at around $2.34M, slightly lower than the asking price 12 years ago. Still, the economists say, based on that possible asking price, it would only be affordable to those with an even higher household income: $730,000.

671 Lincoln Ave. was most recently on the market for $2.4 million back in May 2011, PEOPLE previously reported. It subsequently got several price cuts until the listing was removed that November at $1.95 million. It was later sold for $1.59 million the following March, per Zillow.

Related: 25 Things You May Not Know About 'Home Alone', 25 Years Later

The Times' investigation also digs into how the McCallisters' may have afforded the impressive spread and their spoiled Christmas vacation, including hypothesizing about the parents' undisclosed jobs.

Some think Kate McCallister (Catherine O'Hara) was a fashion designer due to the presence of mannequins in the house. The writer Todd Strasser, who novelized the movie, shared that he guessed Peter McCallister (John Heard) was a businessman, because it was “a safe bet."

But the immediate McCallister family aren't the wealthiest characters in the movie. That title likely belongs to Uncle Rob.

The Times points out that Peter's brother is the one who footed the bill to fly the whole gang to Paris, with the adults all sitting in first class. It's also mentioned that he has a pied-a-terre in the city with views of the Eiffel Tower that would presumably be large enough to house everyone.

In 2020, the U.K. morning show This Morning interviewed an American woman who grew up in the real Home Alone house.

Related: 'Home Alone' Cast: Where Are They Now?

https://people.com/movies/home-alone-cast-where-are-they-now/

Laura Abendshien recounted her experience living in the suburban Chicago home at 6 years old while the movie was filming. "We stayed in the house pretty much the entire period, which was about four or five months," she said. "In order to avoid appearing onscreen, we would have to crawl around the window line from room to room."

The cast would "spend time in the house when they weren't filming their scenes. 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," she added.

Only the exterior scenes were filmed on site. The home's interiors were shot on built sets.

Those inside spaces were decorated by Eve Cauley, who told the Times she gave the house a “stately, upscale look," but declined to comment on the family's potential net worth, noting, “To me, with respect, fans who argue about the parents’ income, or house cost, should, instead, simply enjoy the movie."

Home Alone didn't mark the end of the house's film roles however. Eagle-eyed Friends fans intimated that it appeared Monica and Chandler moved into the famous address, matching up the views through the front windows to those seen in the holiday classic.

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