More than 100 people come to see Winnetka’s ‘Home Alone’ house daily amid interior restoration

The famous “Home Alone” house in Chicago’s north suburbs is seeing a surge in visitors this holiday season, with more than 100 visitors daily coming to take the classic Kevin selfie.

Though the house has been a tourist attraction since the movie came out 35 years ago, visitors flock from all over the globe.

Carloads of people, including a group from Poland and others from the United Kingdom, braved the chilly weather Tuesday to see the stately Winnetka house.

“It’s like a childhood dream,” Maciej and Grzegorz, two visitors from Poland, told NBC Chicago.

Though the exterior of the house still looks nearly identical to how it did decades ago in the film, visitors will see a new addition this year: a sign posted on the fence outside the house telling visitors of the ongoing construction inside.

The interior is being restored to match its appearance in the original 1990 blockbuster movie, according to the project manager Scott Price.

“Our vision is to bring back the warmth and just the love from the movie,” Price told NBC Chicago.

The home’s current owner is paying for the restoration project.

“There was so many great colors and it just made you feel like family and like home and we want to bring that magic back,” Price said.

Fans of the movie who braved Chicago’s cold weather Tuesday for a visit to the house expressed excitement about the restoration.

“I saw on the website it was really kind of a gray house and lost its spirit and magic,” another visitor who came from Ohio, Natalie Coles, told NBC Chicago. “I’m so thrilled the new owners have decided to do that.”

Images of the home’s interior were released when it was sold earlier this year for more than $5 million. Social media posts comparing scenes from the movie to listing images of the home from 2024 have been the source of plentiful online debate, with many criticizing the home’s modern look.

The owner is staying tight-lipped on the project timeline and what is next for the house, though Price did say more improvements to the outside of the house are in store.

“We love this movie; it was a really important movie in our childhood and that’s true for the family that owns the house too,” Price said.