HomeFinder.com Opening Doors Blog

While the prospect of owning a new home in time to start the new year is exhilarating, there is often no match for the comfort of going home for the holidays. We’ve compiled the top holiday movies houses; will you be spending your holidays in any of these neighborhoods?

Miracle on 34^th Street (24 Derby Road Port Washington, New York) This classic holiday movie filmed in 1947 proves that Santa Claus is real, if you just believe. 6-year-old Susan Walker’s (played by Natalie Wood) mother (played by Maureen O’Hara) instills in her to reject the fantasy and magic of the holiday season. Susan still asks Santa for a house for Christmas and somehow, her Christmas wish came true! Susan’s dream house is a 1,703 square-foot, two-bathroom single family home located on the North Shore of Long Island.

A Christmas Story (1103 Rowley Ave, Cleveland, OH)  This beloved holiday movie released in 1983 has such a cult following, the original house has since been turned into a tourist attraction and museum that is open year-round. Visitors can peruse the museum gift store to take care of their holiday shopping list, including fulfilling Ralphie’s dream of owning a Red Ryder BB Gun. Just don’t shoot your eye out!

Home Alone (671 Lincoln, Winnetka, IL)  While 8-year-old Kevin’s (played by Macaulay Culkin) wish was to live alone in the iconic 1990’s John Hughes holiday blockbuster, this 4,250 square-foot, three-story home in the Chicago suburbs is plenty large for a growing family. This house was recently sold in the spring of 2012 for $1.585 million. The 1920’s red-brick, Georgian-style home boasts 14 rooms, including four bedrooms (with a four-room master suite that spans the entire west wing of the house) and sits on a half-acre lot.

The Holiday (1883 Orlando Road in San Marino, California)  Set during the holidays, this aptly named rom-com features two women on opposite sides of the pond, who are troubled by relationship issues. They embark on a house swap for the holidays and each find love while living in the other one’s home. Iris (played by Kate Winslet) experiences the opulence of Southern California by spending time in Amanda’s (played by Cameron Diaz) nine-bedroom, five-bathroom Tuscan-style villa. Legendary Los Angeles architect, Wallace Neff, designed the 10,324 square-foot home in 1928.

Elf (55 Central Park West, Manhattan, New York City)  When Buddy the Elf (played by Will Ferrell) sets out to find his biological father who lives in New York City, he departs from Santa’s house in the North Pole and finds a new home with his new birth father’s family within this 19-floor housing co-op in the Upper West Side, originally built in 1929.

Whether you are buying a new house or are spending the holidays at your childhood house, we at HomeFinder.com believe there is no place like home this time of year. Happy holidays, from our homes to yours!