We’re all very familiar with the house. The furnace that would freeze up in the middle of summer on the equator. The entryway that would accommodate a fragile “major award.” The breezy front door that the Bumpus hounds could easily open.
It’s the house made famous in A Christmas Story (1983). We’ll see it a bunch of times leading up until Christmas.
Now, it’s up for sale.
Earlier this month, current owner and film buff Brian Jones put the house in Cleveland on the market but without a public asking price. According to CNN, you’ll have to sign a confidentiality agreement before the seller will tell you the asking price.
“Price will matter, but it’s not necessarily the highest price that’s the right fit for this business and this piece of nostalgic Americana,” Jones told WKYC in Cleveland.
Realtor Chad Whitmer expects an eight-figure offer and told WKSU in Cleveland that it’s “more than Ralphie’s house for sale.
“It’s the entire campus, including the neighbor’s house, the museum, the gift shop, there’s a couple vacant lots, parking lots – the entire business operation,” Whitmer told the NPR affiliate.
Zillow lists the house as off-market with a 2021 assessed value of $188,800. It’s also listed with four bedrooms (Ralphie and Randy’s room, the primary bedroom for The Old Man and his wife, Mrs. Parker, and other rooms in case Schwartz or Flick spend the night) with two bathrooms (privacy to decode Little Orphan Annie secret messages). By now, the furnace should be repaired.
Visitors to the house can rent rooms in the Christmas Story House at $545 a night and the Bumpus House for overnight stays.
The mid-November listing coincides with the release of the sequel, A Christmas Story Christmas, which follows Ralphie as an adult and is streaming on HBO Max.
The Cleveland house draws about 100,000 visitors a year (see live video feed below). The house in the sequel replicates some features but was filmed in Sofia, Hungary.
The house in the Tremont neighborhood of Cleveland was built in 1895 and nearly demolished before Jones, a Florida resident, bought it in 2004 for $150,000.
Over two years, Jones outfitted the house on West 11th Street with memorabilia from the film and opened it to the public in 2006. He also expanded the museum campus to include other properties as well.
Right now, two large for-sale signs can be seen near the front of the house.
“You’re looking at pretty much the most natural, holiday-themed house and museum in the world,” Whitmer said in the listing.
