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How much are famous cinemas worth?

How much are famous cinemas worth?

Last week the Chicago House in ‘Home alone’ was sold for $1.58 million (£1 million).

Married couple John and Cynthia Abendshien had owned the red-brick colonial-style building since the 1980s and were expecting to fetch over $2.4 million (£1.6 million) for the property.

(Related story: See the shocking photo of Macaulay Culkin)
(Related story: What happened to Culkin’s film career after Home Alone?)

However, despite the house’s rich history, they were forced to sell it at a much lower price.

In 1989, when Home Alone was being filmed, the couple camped out in the bedroom while the rest of the massive 4,300-square-foot house was used by the production team.

Much of the property was trashed (at least on screen) by Macaulay Culkin as he fended off robbers led by Joe Pesci and Daniel Stern.

It seems that a property used in a famous movie is not immune to the price crash. In fact, all of the current examples we could find sold for less than the asking price, although there were still some incredible valuations.

A property in Salt Lake City based on the iconic house from Pixar’s ‘High’ – which even had the same kitchen facilities – sold for a relatively modest $400,000 (£256,000) – less than many other houses in the area.

The building served as Dr. Tyrell’s villa in “Blade Runner” – The return of the superheroes – the stunning Mayan-inspired Ennis House in Los Angeles – was expected to fetch $15 million (£9.1 million) in 2009, but eventually sold for just $4.5 million (£2.8 million) in 2011.

The same applies to the impressive Californian estate El Fureidis, which was used for the exterior shots of Tony Montana’s shabby apartment in ‘Scarface’was on the market for $35 million (£22 million) before Russian banker Sergey Grishin finally bought it for less than half that price.

But at least they were sold. As far as we know, 370 Beech Street in Highland Park, Illinois, which was Cameron’s house in ‘Ferris Bueller’s Day Off’is still on the market.

The asking price is $1.6 million (£1 million), but estate agent Meladee Hughes told Yahoo! back in January that the lack of bathrooms or a modern kitchen was putting people off.

And apparently the stunning science fiction style Elrod House, which was the residence of Willard Whyte in ‘Diamonds are forever’is available for just $13.9 million (£8.8 million). It has been on the market for two years.

Would you buy one of these famous cinemas if you had the money? Let us know below.