Walking in John Hughes Footsteps: Movie Locations & Addresses

Lake Forest, Illinois

It is also kind of tricky to find on GPS.

It is located on Lake Road in Lake Forest.
The cemetery itself is located at the end of the road at the north end of the town.
If you aren’t able to find it after three tries, consider it a sign from Mr. Hughes himself.

As you drive into the cemetery, take the first lane on the left and his grave is immediately to your right.

*Nancy Hughes passed away in September of 2019 and is buried there as well. You can read this beautifully written obituary about her life. 

The second stop on the tour is the mansion that Mr. Hughes and his family called home before his death.
It is located at 855 E. Westminster in Lake Forest and is just down the road and around the corner from the cemetery.

You won’t be able to get onto the property obviously, but you can peek into the driveway.
Go here to read about my tour of the property when they offered it up for charity.

Nancy Hughes donated this property to the local hospital, Northwestern Lake Forest Hospital
They then used that money to help build a brand new hospital that is opening in 2016.
So thanks to John and Nancy Hughes, we will have a brand new Northwestern Lake Forest Hospital.

2019 update: 

This wing is just around the corner from my neurologist’s office within Northwestern Lake Forest Hospital. When I turned the corner and saw this, I gasped.

This is the part of the tour where you need to turn on your John Hughes playlist on Pandora or Spotify.
Wait, you don’t have one? Well, let’s right that wrong!
If you don’t have a John Hughes playlist, I guess an 80’s CD will work.
BUT WHY DON’T YOU HAVE ONE?

As far as John Hughes’ favorite pizza, an amazing New York Times interview with his oldest son, John III, reveals that he regularly frequented Coal Fire Pizza located at 1321 W. Grand Avenue in Chicago.

Bur locals will tell you that he also loved the downtown location of Ferentino’s Pizza in Lake Forest, located at 842 Western Avenue. We have eaten at this location many times over the years and just love it. The pizza is absolutely amazing….I mean, the smells alone. Ahhh. So if you love pizza, definitely make a stop here.

Leaving Lake Forest and heading south, we will be entering Highland Park where quite a few movie scenes were shot.
But if you are getting hungry, stop in the town of Highwood, in between the two because there are some great little restaurants there.
Our favorite is Buffos;  it’s located at 431 Sheridan Road in Highwood.

Highland Park, Illinois

We first head to Jake Ryan’s home from the movie Sixteen Candles.
Think Anthony Michael Hall stuck inside a glass coffee table.
The roads are very tight in this neighborhood as it is close to the lake, so I would recommend coming during the day so it is safer to drive and safer for the residents.

The garage where the car pulled out with Anthony Michael Hall and Jake’s girlfriend.

Just five minutes around the corner is another familiar movie house located at 370 Beech.
Cameron’s house from Ferris Bueller’s Day Off.
Also known as the house where Cameron’s dad’s car crashed to the ground.

It was for sale for many years but just sold in 2014 for a little over a million.
My father-in-law was there the day that they filmed that famous scene as he worked security for a lot of films. He was a policeman in Highland Park at the time and he has lots of great stories.
I told my husband he needs to write all of them down.
He also gave these to me when he learned of my John Hughes’ obsession (I hate using the word obsession but okay):

Those placards were used in the cars on the streets while filming. Obviously Risky Business wasn’t a John Hughes film but my father in law worked that one as well as many others that aren’t up there.

Again, needs to write his stories down. 

While you are in Highland Park, stop and get a burger at Michael’s.
You won’t regret it.
It’s located at 1879 Second Street.
There is outdoor seating for warmer weather months but don’t let the size fool you, it’s really big on the inside.

Even though it wasn’t a John Hughes movie, Risky Business was primarily filmed in and around the Highland Park area as well.
Go here for all the filming locations because this post has nothing to do with that movie.

Back to the tour, head over to 1200 Linden Avenue and you can see Gary’s house from Weird Science.

It’s obviously been updated and it’s really pretty too.
Sorry for the tree SMACK DAB in the middle of the house.
Again, not getting out of my car and taking a picture of these houses because I refuse to be one of those tourists.
And I beg you not to be one of those as well.

Just a few houses down is Deb’s house from the same movie located at 1150 Linden.

Sorry for the close-up picture, it was raining and I didn’t get out of the car, so I had to edit the rearview mirror out of the picture but you get the main idea.

Glencoe, Illinois

Head a little further south to the town of Glencoe where you will find the church used in the second to last scene in the movie Sixteen Candles.
Where Jake is leaning against his red Porsche?
Swoon.
The church is located at 263 Park Avenue.

At the brown door are the steps where Samantha stood looking out to where Jake was standing.

And below is across the street where Jake stood leaning against his Porsche.
Again, swoon……

We almost got a ticket so I hope you appreciate this picture.

It’s a beautiful church, isn’t it?
Glencoe is a really pretty town, upscale North Shore wealthy Chicago at its finest.
Take time to drive around and admire the homes.
The downtown shopping and dining area are only a block away, so park your car and walk around if you have time.

Winnetka, Illinois

Just south of Glencoe, is the next stop on our tour, Winnetka.
Home to two places in our John Hughes tour but I only stopped at one during this trip.
I didn’t research the other place until I got home but if you are reading this on your phone, definitely stop at both.
First, make a stop at Ferris Bueller’s mom’s workplace also known as Koenig and Strey real estate office located at 583 Chestnut Street in downtown Winnetka.
Then once you have snapped a picture there, head to one of the biggest draws in town: The Home Alone house.
That is located at 671 Lincoln Avenue.

I had actually never been here until this day but apparently, everyone else had because when we pulled up there was this:

See that black iron fence around the yard?
I kind of love that fence.
Do you want to know why?

This house was up for sale a few years ago and, of course, everyone knew that this was “the” house.
As these houses go, they are marketed on the Internet as “The Home Alone House” and so as easy as one would think for them to be scooped up on the real estate market, they are not.
They sit.
And sit.
And sit.

Now, granted, a huge part of that reason is that they are expensive.
Millions of dollars and the taxes are quite ridiculous in Illinois.
But a lot of people are not too willing to live in a home where they know people will be driving by daily to snap pictures, walk on the lawn, or, don’t do it, ring the doorbell.

So this fence makes me smile because these owners put it up because I am sure they have had their share of yard walkers and doorbell ringers.
But why am I smiling?
Because they could have put a fence that blocked the house.
Hell, they could have put up a privacy fence but they didn’t.
The day we drove down this street was a quiet Wednesday morning at 10 am.
Two other cars were also driving down it suspiciously slow and snapping pictures.
It is a cool thing.
Drive-by quietly, snap a quick picture and leave.
Also, the street that this home is on is very narrow; think one-lane road. The street shown in the movie was not the same street that this house sits. So it is very easy to become a traffic jam if you sit and stare at the home, so keep that in mind.

Kenilworth, Illinois

If you are down this way, I forgot to take the picture, but head to 230 Oxford Road in Kenilworth to see the home shown at the end of Planes, Trains & Automobiles.

Speaking of Planes, Trains & Automobiles, there are four other filming locations in and around the metro Chicago area.

The “Braidwood Inn” which was said to be in Witchita, Kansas is actually just outside of Joliet in Braidwood, Illinois. It can be seen along Interstate 55 if you don’t have time to make a stop and honestly, it really isn’t worth it. In recent years it has been the Sun Motel notorious for prostitution and drug busts.

The motel is located at 140 South Hickory Street in Braidwood, IL.

Evanston, Illinois

Leaving the Winnetka/Kenilworth area, let’s head down to Evanston.
Home of Northwestern University and two major John Hughes movie homes: Samantha Baker’s from Sixteen Candles and the house used in Uncle Buck.

Located at 2602 Lincoln Avenue, my husband and I both were like, are we sure this is it?

It looked smaller in person even though it is huge but it’s funny how homes look on screen compared to when you see them in real life.

It is indeed the house Buck Russell made his famous shovel pancakes in.
Or at least punched the clown on the front porch.
By the way, I miss John Candy.

About ten minutes away is Samantha Baker’s house at 3022 Payne Street.

Take a good look at the above street.
That is the opening street scene to Sixteen Candles.

While in Evanston, stop in at Edzo’s Burger Shop.
A former classmate of my husband’s opened this chain years ago and they make the most amazing burgers and shakes.
It is located at 1571 Sherman Avenue but is closed on Mondays.
So don’t go on a Monday.

Northbrook, Illinois

Now you have your tummy full and you might be blasting some Simple Minds, maybe even a little Psychedelic Furs?
This next leg definitely calls for The Breakfast Club soundtrack and you have some time to jam because you’re going to hop on the Illinois Tollway and head up to the Northwest Suburbs toward the fictional town of Shermer, Illinois.

The first stop will be Northbrook which used to be called Shermerville in honor of one-time resident Frederick Schermer.
So John Hughes wasn’t just making things up; there actually WAS a Shermer, Illinois.
In fact, all over Northbrook, there are signs of Shermer.

To us suburban Chicago residents, it isn’t really anything new but to someone who doesn’t live here and loves John Hughes’ movies, this is pretty cool.
You will find signs of Shermer in and around Northbrook.

Start your Northbrook tour at the house where Anthony Michael Hall stops to capture the moment on film of his time with the blonde in the Rolls Royce in Sixteen Candles.
So I later found out there are two different addresses online for this home.
The address I was originally given was actually the incorrect one and instead was the location of the tree that Long Duc Dong jumped out of.
So I don’t have a picture of the correct house.
The actual house address is 1423 Sycamore Lane.
The school where they filmed the famous underwear scene is just down the street.

We are going to head around the corner to see a little-known trivia tidbit.

On Shermer Road, no less sits Glenbrook North High School.
John Hughes was an alumnus of this high school and he used Glenbrook North in a few of his movies: putting the logo on tee shirts, folders, binders, jackets and the like.
He also used the GBN colors for the Sixteen Candles high school colors, green and gold.
Be on the lookout for the GBN logo in Hughes’ movies, especially in the opening credits of Sixteen Candles.
GBN was also used in Ferris Bueller’s Day off as the high school you see when Mr. Petersen (aka Ferris) picks up Sloane outside of the school.

After turning left onto Shermer Road from the parking lot of GBN, you should be seeing this slowly come into view:

To some who pass this every day, it’s just a plain old water tower.

It’s the SAVE FERRIS water tower.

They painted over the words years ago but they never painted anything else on it.
There was actually a campaign to ..wait for it…save the Save Ferris water tower.
They were going to tear this down in 2011 because the village was building another water tower for money saving and water pressure issues.
They were very close to tearing this down but nostalgia gets the best of people.
Well, that and the Internet.
When the rest of the world found out that THE Save Ferris water tower was coming down, it just didn’t sit right with Ferris Bueller fans everywhere and after a campaign, the water tower sits untouched.

Added in 2019:

If you want the coolest place to sit and look at the tower, head to the Northbrook Public Library to sit on the John Hughes memorial bench.

If you sit on the bench, this will be your view:

The infographic is great and the view is even better.

The bench is tucked away in the library parking lot and can be found by entering this address in your GPS: 1201 Cedar Lane.

By the way, there is an amazing ice cream place right around the corner from the water tower that my husband and I have gone too many times to mention since I have taken on this cool project.

Graeter’s is in my home state of Ohio and beyond and now they have a location in Shermer, I mean, Northbrook.
Get ice cream, walk to the water tower, take in all the happy vibes and just be.
Graeter’s is located at 1347 Shermer Road.

You got your ice cream fix and you saved Ferris.
Time to throw your fist in the air because you are heading to a Mecca for John Hughes fans and the biggest debate as well.
The Breakfast Club high school.

Des Plaines, Illinois

Set your GPS for this address:
9511 Harrison Street Des Plaines
It will take you here:

The former Maine North High School.
Also known as Shermer High School.

Which is now the Illinois State Police Headquarters.

But you can’t go in here or you will end up in cuffs.
Unless that is your thing, then go for it.
Bender would be very proud of you.

This is kind of where I would love to have a John Hughes museum but it’s in a residential area.
Not really cool for a museum.

So here is where the debate lies.
Most people, I included, thought the field scene where Bender does the fist pump, happens at the field across the street from this former school.

Here:

And that would be a big nope.

Others think it happened at another high school listed in the credits, the aforementioned Glenbrook North High School.
But that was for interior shots only.
So I did some research and it turns out that the actual field where Bender does his fist pump was right next to Maine North High School.
What is right next to Maine North High School now?

Lake.

Big Lake.

I couldn’t resist.

Worse.

Yep.
Townhouses.
I mean you could recreate the fist pump scene if you wanted.

Just don’t trip over the trash cans on garbage day.
That happens to be Wednesday, for inquiring minds.

But then, we drove to the back of the townhouses and ……

……I could almost picture it.

So there you have it.
All in one place.
I am sure I am forgetting something.
Please don’t sue me.
Or come after me.
Unless you have a million dollars and you want to start a John Hughes museum or something.
Then I am all ears.