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On the Market: Modern Home from a Classic Chicago Film

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Recognize this garage? It appeared in a well-known movie that was shot here in Chicago. Currently on the market, this modern home in the trees is listed with Sotheby's for 2.3 million dollars. To discover its famous cameo, click through the jump...

 
 

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The house appeared in the 1986 John Hughes movie, Ferris Bueller's Day Off, where it was the fictional home of Ferris' best friend, Cameron Frye (played by Alan Ruck). In the famous scene, Cameron sends his father's Ferrari flying through the glass garage, into the forest below.

The house was designed by architects A. James Speyer and David Haid, both students of Mies van der Rohe. The home's steel and glass International Style shows Mies' influence, and the floor-to-ceiling windows provide 360-degree views of the surrounding woods.

For more information and photos, check out the Sotheby's listing. For more on the film, visit IMDB.

Photos: A. James Speyer / Sotheby's

Tags

real estate, movie, Ferris Beuller's Day Off

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Comments (27)

Ferris Bueller's Day Off....I just watched that movie! Great movie!

posted by junklover on May 26th 2009 at 10:41am
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this is not a house that you sell, you will it.

posted by LoriSF on May 26th 2009 at 10:46am
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i recognized it instantly :)

posted by kdkaboom on May 26th 2009 at 10:48am
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I recognized it right away as well! :) The cars in the building helped though.

posted by RedMaiko on May 26th 2009 at 10:55am
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anybody want to lend me some money? only a couple million? anybody?
This house is gorgeous, and who doesn't love that film!

posted by katefitzgeorge on May 26th 2009 at 10:58am
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kdkaboom... me too. :)

posted by KatieD on May 26th 2009 at 10:58am
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I recognized it too! Breaks my heart a little to see it for sale. At first I thought $2.3 million sounded low...but the property being listed "as is" means it probably hasn't been taken care of very well. :(

posted by Gilliebean11 on May 26th 2009 at 10:59am
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Let my Cameron goooooo

posted by akay on May 26th 2009 at 11:01am
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Bueller...Bueller...

posted by arcgrrl on May 26th 2009 at 11:16am
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"but the property being listed "as is" means it probably hasn't been taken care of very well."

I'm sure they replaced the plate glass window that the Ferrari replica fell out of...

posted by bepsf on May 26th 2009 at 11:25am
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Historical in more ways than one.

posted by Seaside on May 26th 2009 at 11:29am
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Possible short sale or foreclosure? It's being sold as-is with no disclosures. Love this house and if that's the case it makes me sad.

posted by bali2 on May 26th 2009 at 11:30am
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I did a little more digging and see it's an estate sale and the agent is Meladee Hughes. Any relation to John, I wonder???

posted by Gilliebean11 on May 26th 2009 at 11:39am
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I wish had an extra $2 million laying around... I grew up in the neighborhood and actually remember riding my bike over and watching them film the scene with the car jumping out of that garage. I've always been a car guy and dreamed of having a collection of cars and showplace like that in which to display them. House is pretty damn nice too, with the huge windows overlooking a ravine.

posted by Benjy on May 26th 2009 at 11:54am
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I snuck a few references to Abe Froman into the office's corporate style manual when I was revising it. I like to think future generations will read it and enjoy :)

posted by That70sHeidi on May 26th 2009 at 1:21pm
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abe froman, sausage king of chicago!

posted by chusmabilly on May 26th 2009 at 1:33pm
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It looks as if it would cost $2MM a year to heat this habitrail through a Chicago winter.

posted by amed studio on May 26th 2009 at 2:40pm
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Was this also in a Keanu Reeves Sandra Bullock film? Can't remember the name.

posted by hrhprincessfiona on May 26th 2009 at 2:51pm
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We bought a simialr vintage, similarly architecturally significant home in the midwest two years ago. It's likely being sold as is due to structural issues. We just spent too much making sure our house wouldn't fall over nor the roof cave in.

The materials they had to work with 50 or 60 years ago just weren't up to the task these architects set out for them. Not to mention the effects of a half-century of freeze and thaw cycles on the ground on which the home is built.

Whomever buys this house will be a brave soul! (Or clueless, as we were.)

posted by avimom on May 26th 2009 at 2:53pm
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I wonder exactly why they are selling this with a 'no disclosure' clause. I would be afraid the pilings aren't up to current code or something. THAT being said....if I had the money I would still love to buy it or something similar.

posted by baileyb on May 26th 2009 at 3:42pm
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Listening to WGN this morning, and Meladee Hughes said the owner (famous designer) died and his family has decided to sell it.

posted by megamibear on May 26th 2009 at 4:09pm
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"Was this also in a Keanu Reeves Sandra Bullock film? Can't remember the name."

I believe that house was over a lake. Similar as it was a "glass house" as well.

posted by Molunat on May 26th 2009 at 6:31pm
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Benjy, I wish that was my childhood film-in-progress memory! In HS we watched Ferris Bueller in the auditorium every September as a tradition, after the Chuck Norris United Way video... all 5 years Ontario used to have for high school.
Instead I saw them filming "Searching for Bobby Fischer" in Washington Square Park while on a family vacation.

posted by dolly on May 26th 2009 at 9:23pm
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For a property of that price it seems awfully close to its neighbours - for an all-glass property you'd want better views than just trees and your next door neighbours.

And I don't understand why they say its a property "which can never be duplicated" - its not like steel and glass aren't available anymore - or is it because its structurally unsound? - thus any replication would be different to be safe?? - those uprights do seem awfully thin ...

posted by Violetsrose on May 27th 2009 at 7:25am
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The garage was a later addition; the house was built for fabric designer Ben Rose (as it says in the listing) and was published fairly extensively at the time ('58 ish). I hope it's not purchased for/as a teardown. I suspect that it's well built (I knew people with a similar house structurally and it survived a tree falling on it with only some scratches and a broken window) and it looks well maintained. AND it looks in very original condition - I hope somebody who loves it buys it.

posted by dn on May 27th 2009 at 11:55am
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Violetsrose, this house sits on the edge a ravine, so it's more secluded than most of the other homes in the neighborhood. In Highland Park, $2 million certainly doesn't buy any kind of estate, especially when the home has both architectural and Hollywood significance.

posted by Benjy on May 27th 2009 at 1:53pm
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Dreamy...

posted by Jesse Lu on June 2nd 2009 at 3:31pm
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