When the main character of the movie “Home Alone 2,” Kevin McCallister, has to flee from the Plaza Hotel, he discovers from his father’s notebook that his uncle Rob’s house is in New York – a townhouse located at 51 West 95th Street. It turns out that Uncle Rob went on holiday to Paris, and the house itself is closed for renovation, which doesn’t stop the little mischief-maker from using it to defend against the “Wet Bandits.” After 30 years, apparently, the renovation of the house has finally been completed, and it is now up for sale in the real world for $6.7 million.
It is worth noting that the famous brownstone townhouse at 51 West 95th Street on the Upper West Side, just minutes away from Central Park, never actually appeared in the scenes of “Home Alone 2.” Most of the movie was indeed filmed in New York, including scenes at the Radio City Music Hall, the Empire Diner, and others. However, the events in Uncle Rob’s house were filmed thousands of kilometers away from its prototype – on a Brownstone street set at one of the Universal Studios in Los Angeles. Despite this, for many years, franchise fans have been coming to admire the famous New York townhouse where “Kevin set traps for the Wet/Sticky Bandits.”
According to Nicol Czarny, the listing director of Vandenberg, The Townhouse Experts, representing the seller of the real house at 51 West 95th Street, people come to it year after year, take photos, and take selfies. Moreover, Dexter Guerrieri, the president and founder of Vandenberg, stated that the current owners of the building occasionally receive letters from fans who are unable to visit the legendary location themselves (usually, these are children).
The “Home Alone 2” house is a classic four-story brownstone townhouse with a porch, bay windows, and a private garden, built in the late 1880s and fully restored in the early 2000s. The “garden” floor features a formal dining room with glass doors leading to the enclosed backyard, a relatively new kitchen with appliances, and extensive storage space. The grand staircase leads to the second floor with a traditional parlor and fireplace, while the third and fourth floors house four bedrooms.
The current owner purchased the house in 2009 for $4.7 million and first listed it for sale in March 2023 for $7.65 million. Later, he had to withdraw his offer from the market and then re-list it at a reduced price. One can only speculate about the reasons behind the seller’s decision, as $6.7 million for a house with history and Hollywood fame is undoubtedly an attractive offer, especially compared to other listings in the same area. For instance, a similar neighboring house at 45 West 95th Street is listed for $10 million.