Now, he’s restoring the west side home used in the Christmas film classic.
On a gray and rainy day, Brian Jones feels just like a kid again on Christmas morning.
Jones, from San Diego, California saw the west side house, where “A Christmas Story” was filmed, up for sale on E-bay. He says he had to have it. He wanted to preserve it. As a matter of fact, shortly after he bought it, you could say it was life imitating art. Jones even brought a leg lamp with him. He put it in the window and ran across the street to take a picture.
“I made sure the adjustments were right,” said Jones. “I wanted it to look good in the window.”
Jones plans to bring the house back to its Hollywood glory. He wants to turn it into a museum.
A walk down memory lane, which was $150,000 for the house alone, won’t be cheap. So, Jones is in Cleveland to drum up community support and corporate dollars to make it happen.
He has big plans. Jones wants to tie to the home in a tour to Winterfest as a package. Jones has also thought about having child actors throw the switch to light the Christmas tree and maybe bring back a window display at the old Higbee’s.
Realtor John Bernath says people from all over the country already make pilgrimages to the home site. The shed looks as it still has the original movie paint job.
Jones will be talking to city council members, people at the Restoration Society, the Cleveland Film Society and the Visitors and Convention Bureau.
WKYC-TV