Who doesn’t remember the holiday classic “A Christmas Story?” You know, Ralphie Parker… his desperate pleas for an official Red Ryder, carbine-action, 200-shot, range model air rifle… his tongue sticking to a frozen flagpole… the leg lamp. You remember don’t you?
Brian Jones sure does. The 30-year-old former Navy lieutenant has been obsessed with the quirky film since he saw it for the first time with his parents in the late ‘80s. So obsessed, that when the house from the film was put up for sale on eBay in December 2004, Jones said there was nothing that would have stopped him from buying it. In fact, the auction price was up to $115,000, when Jones contacted the house’s owner and said he’d pay $150,000 to stop the bidding. That was the first time Jones made headlines.
Back then he told reporters: “It was mine. I sent him a deposit and flew out two days after Christmas just to make sure it wasn’t a falling down shack. Basically, I bought it site unseen.”
Now, Jones is back in the media spotlight. Since buying property nearly 2 years ago Jones has restored the three-story, wood-frame house (located in Cleveland’s Tremont neighborhood, just a few minutes from downtown where the exterior department store shots were filmed) to its appearance in the movie and will open it for tours beginning tomorrow. It is Jones’ hope that it will become a tourist stop alongside the city’s Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and other destinations.
Jones recently told reporters that he is not sure if he’ll make enough money to cover his $500,000 investment, but he’s committed to the project.
“I just want people to come and enjoy it as I have,” said Jones.
The die-hard “A Christmas Story” fan installed new windows and replaced the 111-year-old house’s gray aluminum siding with mustard yellow painted wood and green trim that perfectly matches Ralphie’s house. Inside Jones recreated the ’40s feel of Ralphie’s home with a brown-and-white tile kitchen floor, a wide cast-iron sink in the kitchen, a claw-foot bathtub and, the infamous leg lamp in the window. In addition, Jones bought the house across the street (the one Ralphie runs past it in the film’s opening scene) to serve as a museum and gift shop. Currently, several original items from the film are on display, including the infamous snowsuit worn by Ralphie’s brother, Randy.
Are you a fan of the movie? Would you consider visiting the home that the Christmas classic made famous?