Whether celebrating a countdown to Christmas or Christmas in July, Winnetka, IL can be an idyllic place to feel like you just walked onto a movie set.
Specifically, many Home Alone (1990) filming locations are located in (or near) Winnetka, about an hour's drive outside of Chicago. Spending a significant amount of time in Illinois as a child, it's no wonder that the Director of Home Alone, John Hughes, set a number of his films in the state, including Ferris Bueller's Day Off (1986); The Breakfast Club (1985); Sixteen Candles (1984); and Planes, Trains, & Automobiles (1987).
Below are some of our favorite Home Alone filming spots to visit, in order of distance from each other, and ideas for how to spend the day - two bad guys in a Oh-Kay Plumbing and Heating van not included.✧
Stop 1: McCallister House (& house across the street)
Address: 671 Lincoln Ave., Winnetka, IL 60093
Arguably the most iconic location in the movie, the McCallister House is easy to spot in suburban Winnetka. This is private residence, but you can view the house from the street/sidewalk. If you listen close enough, you can almost hear the screeching of tires as the Little Nero's pizza delivery car makes its way up the McCallister driveway to fulfill its "20 Minutes or You Don't Pay" guarantee.
Not to be overlooked, the blue house across the street was also features in the movie - as the house of the Murphy's, which gets flooded by the "Wet Bandits" at the end of the movie.
Stop 2: Hubbard Woods Park
Address: 939 Old Green Bay Rd, Winnetka, IL 60093
A 4-minute drive from the Home Alone House, Hubbard Woods Park includes areas where Kevin slid on the ice to get away from police after he steals a toothbrush; and the railway bridge he runs across while making the way back to his house.
If you're in need of a lunch break, the park has picnic tables and is the perfect spot to eat "a lovely cheese pizza." Grateful Bites Pizza Shoppe (899 Green Bay Rd, Winnetka, IL 60093) is a great option and isn't too far away (about a 3-minute walk from the park). The "Feed Your Head" pizza (pictured) was amazing!
Stop 3: The Grand Food Center
Address: 606 Green Bay Rd, Winnetka, IL 60093
Kevin gets his "milk, eggs, and fabric softener" at this food center in Winnetka. It's a about a 4-minute drive from Hubbard Woods Park.
Don't forget the highly nutritious, microwavable mac and cheese as you check out!
Stop 4: Trinity United Methodist Church
Address: 1024 Lake Avenue, Wilmette, IL, 60091
In the movie, Kevin hides from the Wet Bandits in a Nativity Scene located around where the sign for the church sits now. The church is a quick (10-ish) minute drive from The Grand Food Center. Interestingly, the inside of the church (where Kevin listens to a children's choir and talks to Old Man Marley), is actually the interior of Grace Episcopal Church in Oak Park, Illinois (about an hour drive from Wilmette/Winnetka area).
✧Merry Christmas, Ya Filthy Animals!
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