Four Famous Movie Homes for Sale
Sometimes a home is so integral to a movie it actually becomes a character in the film.
Who could forget the iconic homes in "The Godfather" or "Home Alone"?
While most people would never dream of running a criminal enterprise or leaving an 8-year-old child to fend off burglars solo, these movie backdrops continue to capture imaginations.
Right now, a handful of these Hollywood homes are on the market. These are houses that have seen it all: family dysfunction, mob conspiracies, courageous kids and seniors getting a new start on life.
Want to own a home with a little star power? Here are four that could be yours for the asking price.
'Ferris Bueller's Day Off'
One unforgettable character in a movie full of them: the steel-and-glass manse that was home to Ferris' best friend, Cameron Frye.
Not only was it a cool backdrop, it was the site of one pivotal scene when Frye's father's Ferrari 250 GT California Spyder -- borrowed for a day of fun and frolic in Chicago -- goes through the garage's plate glass window and into a ravine.
No actual windows were harmed in the making of the film. The Highland Park, Ill., home will soon be on the market with an asking price of $1.65 million, says Meladee Hughes, broker-associate with Coldwell Banker's Gold Coast office in Chicago.
The main house, which boasts more than 3,000 square feet and wasn't seen in the film, was designed in 1953 by architect A. James Speyer and features removable walls, she says. The 1,300-square-foot pavilion, built 20 years later in the same midcentury modern style, was the site used in the movie, says Hughes.
For the Ferrari scene, a mock-up car without gas was pushed out the window -- which had been replaced with specially designed Hollywood glass, she says. Of the 10 cameras rolling, only one caught the action, says Hughes, "so they were lucky."
'The Godfather'
This is a house no movie buff could forget.
All you have to do is catch a glimpse of this stately Staten Island, N.Y., home and you can practically hear composer Nino Rota's iconic score.
"At the onset, we had a flow of movie aficionados interested," says Connie Profaci of Connie Profaci Realty. Media interest came from as far away as Austria.
In the movie, the cameras never shot inside the eight-bedroom mansion. Instead, it was the driveway, exterior, pool and grounds that served as the backdrop for the Corleone family and their associates, she says.
But Profaci has staged the home office with a large desk and wooden blinds reminiscent of Don Vito Corleone's office from the movie set.
The 6,250-square-foot brick home is built in the English Tudor style and comes complete with a billiard room and a pub.
Asking price: $2.25 million. So far, no one has made an offer the sellers couldn't refuse.
'Home Alone'
Want to jump on the bed? Stuff yourself with pizza? Enjoy a little "me" time and answer to absolutely no one?
The "Home Alone" house in Winnetka, Ill., is for sale with an asking price of $2.175 million.
And at 4,250 square feet, there's plenty of room to get lost in the four-bedroom Georgian, which was the screen home to the fictional McCallister family in the 1990 John Hughes classic.
Most of the filming at the house, which took place over six months, was on the first floor and outside, says Marissa Hopkins, broker with Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage in Highland Park, Ill.
During filming, the home's owners lived primarily in the four-room master suite, which includes a bedroom, sunroom, bathroom and sitting room with a fireplace, says Hopkins.
But the movie wasn't completely faithful to real life. The use of the attic "was completely creative," she says. "There is an attic. There is a third-floor bedroom. But it's not how it was depicted in the movie."
No word on whether Joe Pesci or Daniel Stern has put in an offer.
'Up'
The movie may have been animated, but this house is very real.
Blair Bangerter, homebuilder and co-owner of Bangerter Homes, painstakingly recreated it in every detail -- right down to Carl and Ellie's custom-made chairs sitting just where they were in the movie.
So how much will it set you back? About $399,000, which could also pay for 39,900 movie tickets. Or one very large bunch of balloons.
After Bangerter first saw the movie, he thought, "Hey, there's kind of an interesting architecture about that house," and it dovetailed with the resurgence in historic architecture he noticed in the Salt Lake City area.
Later, after watching the DVD, he put a pencil to paper to see if he could catch the design in real life.
The biggest challenge was filling in the blanks. In the movie, there are places in the house you don't see, such as the kitchen, the bathroom, the laundry room, says Bangerter. "We just had to take the shape of the house and dream all that up, which is the fun part."
The movie ended with Carl and Ellie's house overlooking scenic Paradise Falls. But the real home already has a view of the Wasatch Mountains right from the front porch.