For three decades, nine-year-old Kevin McAllister's hilarious battle against a pair of thieves on Christmas Eve has been a favorite holiday tradition. A new generation has grown up on the cult film today. Forget Me at Home became one of those rare films that you can watch over and over again and enjoy every time. But it's not Kevin's original traps for thieves that make fans wonder every year — it's the McAllister family's wealth. Their well-equipped, large-scale home and lifestyle raised questions. The New York Times, aware of our weaknesses, has now turned to the Federal Reserve, the top monetary authority and the U.S. central bank, for answers.
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In the opening scenes of Forget Me Home, Harry (Joe Pesci), one of the two wet burglars, points to the McAllisters' home as the main target in the affluent neighborhood and tells his partner Marv, "This is the house, there's a lot of VCRs, stereos and all kinds of marketable securities." The house is the best clue as to how much money the McAllisters have. It's a real home at 671 Lincoln Avenue in Chicago's Vinteca suburb, one of the most expensive neighborhoods in the United States, according to Realtor.com. It is furnished not in the White House style, but it has a look that can be called established and updated, with dark blue and dusty pink dominating, interior design colors then popular. It has enough room for Kevin and his four siblings, an army of guests, and of course the poorly behaved and asked to "go upstairs" to an attic (warm and full of color). The iconic home, located at 671 Lincoln Avenue in Wintka, a suburb of Chicago that has now become a popular tourist destination, was affordable in 1990 for only the top 1% of households in Illinois' largest city. Oddly enough, this is still true today.
Fed economists made this determination after looking at data from 1990 and 2022, taking into account factors such as household income, property values, mortgage rates and typical taxes and insurance. Assuming that the McAllisters did not spend more than 30 percent of their income on housing, the economists also determined that the home was affordable for a household with an income of $305,000 in 1990. In mid-2022, the cost of a similar home was about $2.4 million. This valuable home would be affordable for a household with an income of $730,000, which is a household in the top <>% of households in the Chicago area.
How did the McAllisters accumulate such a fortune?
The film offers no insight into the occupations of the parents. On the Internet, this question pops up regularly, creating room for fan theories. Some speculate that Kate McAllister is a fashion designer due to dolls and tailors at home. One of them later appeared in one of Kevin's attempts to trick the thieves into thinking that he wasn't, in fact, alone in the house. As for Peter, there is an amazing theory that Kevin's father is involved in organized crime. According to this theory, McAllister House was a prime target as a form of revenge, and Quinn's violence against the burglars is the product of an education exposed to criminal activity. The New York Times did not rule out this theory. However, in a book published after the success of the film and written based on the script, it is reported that Kevin's mother is a fashion designer, and his father is a businessman. In general, the family is presented as a member of an 'upper-middle class'. They wear nice clothes, their house is well equipped and decorated, they rent several large vehicles to take them to the airport, but when Kate tries to bribe an elderly couple to give up their tickets for her so she can return to Kevin soon, she offers jewelry and cash, but hints that her Rolex may be fake.
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It's not just home. It's the rich uncle
The McAllisters' wealth isn't just about home; An important statistic is, of course, a Christmas trip to Paris. The 15-person flight to Paris is expensive, especially with the four adults flying first class, but Kevin's parents don't pay for the plane tickets. At the beginning of the film, Kate McAllister tells the policeman - who is actually the burglar Harry in disguise - that her husband's brother paid for the flights. That brother is Uncle Rob. He is a minor character in the film, but the few references he receives indicate that his uncle is rich. He pays for the tickets, and has an apartment in Paris that has a clear view of the Eiffel Tower and somehow can accommodate 15 members of his family. A third brother, Uncle Frank (annoying), lives in Ohio and travels with the family from Illinois to Paris. We don't learn that he's stingy, but we don't learn anything about his income. At his brother's home in Chicago, he avoided paying the $122.50 pizza bill. In first class on the plane, he tells his wife to put the crystal cheeks in his bag. This behavior can both confirm and contradict the hypothesis that he is well-to-do.
But 'Forget Me at Home' isn't about money. Basically, it was intended to be an entertaining and uplifting film, a goal that was achieved with great success. Dealing with questions such as how wealthy the McAllister family is attests to the film's iconic status and place in popular culture. A place whose value far exceeds that of the McAllister family.
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