That Time Macaulay Culkin Nearly Bought The OG Home Alone House. What He'd Do With It, And Why It Def Needs To Happen Now

Macaulay Culkin as Kevin McCallister in Home Alone
(Image credit: 20th Century Fox)

Often considered one of the best Christmas movies ever made, Home Alone gave audiences a most iconic '90s cinema character in Macaulay Culkin’s Kevin McCallister, as well as an all-time great movie location in the spacious suburban Chicago house he swore to protect. While we may never know if the McCallisters stayed in the abode in a post-Home Alone 2 world, Culkin himself has talked about buying the house, and his theoretical plans for it are hilariously on-brand.

When appearing at A Nostalgic Night with Macaulay Culkin live event in Rosemont, Illinois in December 2024 (via the New York Times), the former child star held a screening of the classic Chris Columbus film and shared all kinds of stories with those in attendance. In addition to recalling experiences he had with other members of the Home Alone cast, Culkin opened up about almost buying the iconic home, which sits at 671 Lincoln Ave. in Winnetka, Illinois. As he put it:

I had half a mind to buy it — just for giggles.

During the post-screening Q&A session, Culkin, who is set to appear in Fallout Season 2, was met with a round of applause when he talked about purchasing the house where his most famous character thought he made his family disappear. But the actor’s imagined plans for the stately home sound like something fans of the beloved ‘90s movies would love to see realized.

Macaulay Cullkin as Kevin McCallister sporting a menacing grin in Home Alone

(Image credit: Twentieth Century Fox)

What Macaulay Culkin Would Do With The Home Alone House And Why I Need It To Happen Now

So, what would Macaulay Culkin do with the house if ever bought it? Well, would you be shocked to hear that he’d turn it into some kind of movie funhouse where visitors could recreate famous Home Alone scenes like sledding down the stairs? Because that’s what the Richie Rich star revealed at his traveling event. (Probably no grabbing hot doorknobs, though.)

The Home Alone house serving as a museum of sorts for the famous movie is something film enthusiasts and Midwesterners would love to visit, especially if it were made to look like it did all those years ago. The den with that cozy chair, the kitchen with the little TV and tiled countertops, and the location of all those diabolical booby traps would be so much fun to revisit.

But don’t get too attached to the idea of taking a zipline from the third floor to a treehouse out back, yelling at the furnace to shut up, or taking shots at sports figures sitting on the laundry chute, even though a $5.25 million sale of the home isn’t yet finalized, per Zillow.

During the same event, Culkin explained that the reason why he never went through with those tentative plans was because he’s “got kids” and was “busy.” It all comes back to the kids.

And as much as we would all love to believe that Culkin is the mystery buyer behind the latest in a series of purchases of the Home Alone house, crazier things have happened over the holidays in the past.

We may never get to enter the house for ourselves, or at least see what Macaulay Culkin would do with the place, we can at least go back to the house by watching Home Alone for like the 100th time with a Disney+ subscription.

Philip Sledge
Content Writer

Philip grew up in Louisiana (not New Orleans) before moving to St. Louis after graduating from Louisiana State University-Shreveport. When he's not writing about movies or television, Philip can be found being chased by his three kids, telling his dogs to stop barking at the mailman, or chatting about professional wrestling to his wife. Writing gigs with school newspapers, multiple daily newspapers, and other varied job experiences led him to this point where he actually gets to write about movies, shows, wrestling, and documentaries (which is a huge win in his eyes). If the stars properly align, he will talk about For Love Of The Game being the best baseball movie of all time.