A Christmas Story House facts for kids
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| Established | 2006 (House built in 1895, though some accounts date back as early as 1870) |
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| Location | 3159 W 11th St. Cleveland, Ohio 44109 USA |
A Christmas Story House is a famous house and museum in Cleveland, Ohio. It's known because it was used in the classic 1983 movie A Christmas Story. This old Victorian house looks just like Ralphie Parker's home from the film, both inside and out. A fan of the movie bought the house in 2004 and carefully brought it back to its movie look. Today, it's a fun place to visit all year round. It's part of a group of four buildings that celebrate the beloved film.
Contents
Discovering the Movie House
How Cleveland Became the Set
The movie A Christmas Story is based on stories by author Jean Shepherd. When director Bob Clark was looking for a place to film, he checked out many cities. He picked Cleveland because of a real department store called Higbee's. This store is shown in three scenes in the movie!
Ralphie Parker's fictional home in the film is on "Cleveland Street." This is a nod to the actual street where Jean Shepherd grew up. The outside shots of the house and neighborhood were filmed in the Tremont area of Cleveland. Producers chose this house because it was close to downtown. It also offered cool views of steel mills in the nearby Cuyahoga River Valley.
The Sequel and New Sets
In 2022, a sequel called A Christmas Story Christmas was made. However, this new movie was filmed in Eastern Europe. The owners of the original house didn't allow the film crew to scan it for the sequel. So, new versions of the house and neighborhood were built there for filming.
Bringing the Movie House Back to Life
A Fan's Dream Come True
In 2004, a big fan of A Christmas Story named Brian Jones bought the house. He found it for sale on eBay for $150,000. Brian owned a company that made copies of the famous "leg lamp" from the movie. He used money from his business to buy the house.
The house had been changed over the years. It had modern windows and blue vinyl siding. Brian watched the movie many times, frame by frame. He drew detailed plans to make the inside look like the movie set. The original indoor scenes were filmed on a sound stage in Toronto. Brian spent a lot of money to fix up the house. He made it look just like it did in the movie, both inside and out.
The Christmas Story House Museum
Brian Jones also bought the house across the street. He turned it into A Christmas Story House Museum. Here, you can see real items from the movie! These include Randy's snowsuit and toys from the Higbee's window. You can also see the chalkboard from Miss Shields' classroom. There are hundreds of behind-the-scenes photos too. One of the special Daisy Red Ryder BB guns used in the film is also on display.
Next to the museum, there's a gift shop. It sells lots of movie souvenirs and memorabilia.
The house and museum first opened to the public on November 25, 2006. Some of the original actors from the movie even came to the grand opening! Over 4,300 people visited during that first weekend.
Today, you can take tours of the house every day. You can even stay overnight in the main house or the "Bumpus house" next door. The Bumpus house was fixed up in 2018. In November 2022, the entire group of buildings was put up for sale.
