NEW YORK – When Kevin McCallister (Macaulay Culkin) gets chased out of The Plaza in the 1992 film Home Alone 2, he heads across town to the Upper West Side, where his Uncle Rob has a brownstone at 51 West 95th Street.
But Uncle Rob is out of town, the house is under construction and Kevin is, yet again, on his own to fend off bandits Harry (Joe Pesci) and Marv (Daniel Stern).
Three decades later, the renovation is apparently complete, because the four-storey house is for sale – in the real world – for US$6.7 million (S$8.9 million).
Note to Home Alone 2 fans: The quintessential 19th-century brownstone never actually appeared on-screen.
Although much of the film was shot on location in New York City – including scenes at Radio City Music Hall and the Empire Diner – the scenes at Uncle Rob’s home were filmed on Brownstone Street, a stretch of the Universal Studios backlot in Los Angeles.
That has not stopped people from making pilgrimages to the Manhattan address, said Ms Nicole Kats, listing director at Vandenberg, The Townhouse Experts, which is representing the seller.
“People come by and take photos of the house,” she said.
Even fans who cannot make the trip reach out. “Kids write letters to the owners of this house,” said Mr Dexter Guerrieri, president and founder of Vandenberg.
The house, with a classic stoop, bay windows and a rear garden, was built in the late 1880s and fully renovated in the early 2000s. The garden floor has a formal dining room with glass doors leading out to a private yard, and the kitchen has updated appliances and two pantries.
The second floor has a grand staircase and a traditional parlour with a fireplace, while the third floor has two bedrooms, including the primary suite. The top floor has two more bedrooms.
The sellers bought the house in 2009 for US$4.7 million. The current listing price is a reduction – they first listed it in March for US$7.65 million before pulling it from the market.
Despite the house’s Hollywood pedigree, the US$6.7 million price is something of a bargain: 45 West 95th Street, a five-bedroom, five-bath townhouse that sits four doors down and has no such claim to fame, is also on the market, for US$10 million. NYTIMES
