Film fan Brian Jones is selling the Cleveland house featured in the holiday classic A Christmas Story. Jones bought the property in 2004 for $150,000 and turned it into a tourist attraction, alongside other nearby lots that were turned into a museum and gift stop. The house Ralphie Parker and his family called home, as well as the Bumpus House next door and the other nearby lots are all up for sale, the Akron Beacon Journalย reported in November.
Earlier this month, Jones told Varietyย that selling the property was always part of his long-term plan, once he got the tourist attraction up and running. “I’ve tried to tee this up for anybody who wants to take it to the next level,” Jones said. “There’s more to do here: a candy store where you can see someย grizzly bears, a Santa mountain. I’d love to add a Chinese restaurant and a BB-gun range. We can make it completely immersive for people.”
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Jones has not publicly disclosed how much he would like to sell the lot for. He is screening “qualified buyers” before signing confidentiality agreements. When Variety jokingly offered $4 million, Jones shook off that price. “Not even close,” Jones said. “You don’t even have the money to operate this place annually. Go fish.”
Jones bought the home on eBay, and it has been a bed and breakfast and museum in recent years. He spent thousands on restoring the home and the surrounding area to make it look just like it did in the 1983 film. The sale is being overseen by Hoff & Leigh real estate and no price tag has been disclosed.ย
The property listing was published on the real estate firm’s website, noting that the “entire campus” is for sale. “When we say all this can be yours, we’re serious,” the listing reads. “The entire campus is for sale, which spans a total of 1.3 acres including five buildings on seven parcels. Additionally, there are two public and one private parking lots, and two empty lots which create room for further expansion.”
The famous house was built in 1895 and became a Cleveland tourist attraction in recent years. About 75,000 people visit the house annually. Visitors today will see a “for sale” sign on the lawn while looking for the famous leg lamp through the window.ย
A Christmas Story was directed by Bob Clark and is based on Jean Shepherd’s book In God We Trust: All Others Pay Cash. Peter Billingsley played Ralphie, while Shepherd narrated the film as adult Ralphie. Melinda Dillon and Darren McGavin played Ralphie’s parents, while Ian Petrella starred as his brother Randy. Thanks to multiple annual shows on cable every year, the film has become a Christmas classic and was added to the Library of Congress’s National Film Registry in 2012.
Over the years, there have been multiple sequels chronicling new adventures of the Parker family. The first was My Summer Story (1994), which starred Kieran Culkin as Ralphie and Charles Grodin and Mary Steenburgen as his parents. A Christmas Story 2 (2012) was a direct-to-video movie featuring Braeden Lemasters as Ralphie.
Billingsley plays an adult Ralphie in A Christmas Story Christmas, which was released on HBO Max on Nov. 17. Petrella is also back as Randy, while Julie Hagerty plays their widowed mother. Scott Schwartz, R. D. Robb, and Zack Ward are also back as Ralphie’s now-adult friends. The movie was directed by Clay Kaytis and filmed in Hungary and Bulgaria. The original A Christmas Story is available to stream on HBO Max.
