Walking in John Hughes Footsteps: Movie Locations & Addresses

 

Disclaimer: I am not revealing any new information or violating anyone’s privacy. The addresses listed here are public domain and freely available online. Please respect the current homeowner’s property if you are using this as a guide to create your own tour.

 

 

John Hughes is buried in Lake Forest Cemetery, which is located on Lake Michigan.

The address is listed as Lake Road in Lake Forest.
The cemetery is on the outer edges of town, at the end of a long road.

As you enter the cemetery, follow the first lane on the left, and his grave will be the first grave on your right.

*Nancy Hughes passed away in September of 2019 and is also buried there. This beautifully written obituary contains information about her life.

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The second stop on the tour is the house where Mr. Hughes and his family lived until his death.
It’s located at 855 Westminster, down the street from the cemetery.

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You will not be able to enter the property, but you will be able to see it as you drive by. Visit this page to read about my tour of the house when it was offered up for charity.

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This property was donated to Northwestern Lake Forest Hospital by Nancy Hughes.
They then used the proceeds from the sale to help fund the construction of a brand new hospital, which opened in 2016. 

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Remember how I mentioned John Hughes’ favorite pizza? According to a New York Times interview with his oldest son, John III, his father was a regular at Coal Fire Pizza on 1321 W. Grand Avenue in Chicago.

Locals say he also liked the downtown Lake Forest location of Ferentino’s Pizza, located at 842 Western Avenue. We’ve eaten here several times over the years and have always enjoyed it.

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Highland Park, Illinois

We start with Jake Ryan’s house from the film Sixteen Candles: 1407 Waverly Road. 

Because the roads in this neighborhood are heavily congested due to its proximity to the lake, I would recommend visiting during the day to make it safer for drivers and residents.

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Another well-known movie house, 370 Beech, is only five minutes away. Cameron’s home in Ferris Bueller’s Day Off. Also known as the house where Cameron’s father’s car crashed through the glass and landed on the ground.

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My father-in-law, who worked as security for several John Hughes films, was present on the day that iconic scene was filmed. He was a Highland Park police officer at the time, and he has so many interesting stories.

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Those placards seen above were used on cars on the streets while filming. Obviously, Risky Business was not a John Hughes production, but my father-in-law worked security on that set, as well as many others not listed.

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Returning to the tour, visit Gary’s house from Weird Science at 1200 Linden Avenue. 

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Deb’s house from Weird Science, 1150 Linden, is just a few houses down.

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Glencoe, Illinois

Continue south to Glencoe, where you will find the church featured in the second-to-last scene of the film Sixteen Candles. The church is located at 263 Park Avenue.

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Samantha stood on the steps near the brown door, looking out to where Jake was.

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And this was where Jake was, leaning against his Porsche.

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Winnetka, Illinois

Three locations in this town, only two pictures because I didn’t look into the other until I got home, but if you’re reading this on your phone while touring, you should definitely stop at all three.

First, go to Ferris Bueller’s mother’s workplace, also known as Koenig and Strey’s real estate office, which is located at 583 Chestnut Street in downtown Winnetka. 

After you’ve taken a photo there, head to one of the town’s most popular attractions: the Home Alone residence. The address is 671 Lincoln Avenue.

 

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The day we went, it was a quiet Wednesday morning at 10 a.m., and only two other cars were driving suspiciously slowly while taking pictures. Furthermore, the street depicted in the film is not the same as the street on which this house is located. This street is extremely narrow.

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The address of the grocery store where Kevin shops in the film Home Alone is 606 Green Bay Road. This is a fun place to visit because you can go inside, though it doesn’t look anything like it did in 1991.

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Kenilworth, Illinois

If you’re in the area, you can go to 230 Oxford Road in Kenilworth to see the house shown at the end of Planes, Trains, and Automobiles.

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In addition, four other John Hughes filming locations for Planes, Trains, and Automobiles can be found in and around the Chicago area.

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The “Braidwood Inn,” which was supposed to be in Wichita, Kansas, is actually located just outside of Joliet in Braidwood, Illinois. If you don’t have time to stop, you can see it from Interstate 55. In recent years, it has been known as the Sun Motel, which has become synonymous with prostitution and drug raids.

The motel’s address is 140 South Hickory Street in Braidwood, Illinois.

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Okay, back to the tour…

A few filming locations can be found in Wilmette, Illinois. Trinity United Methodist Church is located at 1024 Lake Avenue in Wilmette. Also referred to as the “Home Alone Church.”

And this school:

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Courtesy of Patch

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Is best known for the scene in which Uncle Buck orders the mean principal to have a rat chew the wart off her face. Romona Elementary School is located at 600 Romona Road.

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Evanston, Illinois

It’s time to head south to Evanston. Northwestern University is located here, as are two key John Hughes film locations: Samantha Baker’s house from Sixteen Candles and the house featured in Uncle Buck.

Uncle Buck’s house at 2602 Lincoln Avenue is the first stop.

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(I miss John Candy) 

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We’ll then go to Samantha Baker’s house, which is 10 minutes away. 3022 Payne Street.

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As you travel down Payne Street, drive slowly and take a good look. Does it look familiar? The opening scene of Sixteen Candles was filmed on this street.

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Courtesy of IMDB.com 

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She’s Having a Baby, a lesser-known John Hughes film, is one of my favorites.

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Hughes wrote the movie as a love letter to his wife. 56 Salem Lane is the address of the fictional home of Kevin Bacon and Elizabeth MacGovern.

This leg definitely calls for The Breakfast Club soundtrack, and you’ll have plenty of time to jam because you’ll be taking the Illinois Tollway, up to the Northwest Suburbs, and into the fictitious town of Shermer, Illinois.

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Northbrook, Illinois

Northbrook, formerly known as Shermerville in honor of former resident Frederick Schermer, will be the first stop. So John Hughes wasn’t making things up; Shermer, Illinois was a real place. In fact, Shermer can be found all over Northbrook.

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Begin your Northbrook tour at the house where, in Sixteen Candles, Anthony Michael Hall stops to videotape his time in the Rolls Royce. 1411 Sycamore Lane is the address. You will most likely pass by the school where the famous underwear scene was filmed on your way to the house on Sycamore.

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Next, you will travel to Uncle Buck’s party scene, where Buck Russell pulls out the drill to scare his niece Tia’s boyfriend Bug. 2224 Crabtree Lane is the address.

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Glenbrook North High School, located on Shermer Road, is up next. John Hughes attended this high school and used the Glenbrook North insignia in several of his films, including tee shirts, folders, binders, jackets, and the like. He also used the GBN colors of green and gold for the Sixteen Candles high school. Look for the GBN emblem in Hughes’ films, particularly in the opening credits of Sixteen Candles. GBN was also used as the high school seen when Mr. Petersen (aka Ferris) picks up Sloane outside of the school.

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As you leave Glenbrook North High School, take Sherman Drive to Greenview Road. The scene in which Ferris, Cameron, and Sloane speed away to downtown Chicago was filmed there.

Insert music: 

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Back to the tour…

You should see the following after exiting GBN’s parking lot and turning left onto Shermer Road:

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To those who drive by this every day, it’s simply another water tower.

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A campaign was launched to…wait for it…save the Save Ferris water tower.
The village of Northbrook planned to demolish it in 2011 in order to build a new water tower. The village was all set to demolish it, but nostalgia triumphed thanks to the internet. When the rest of the world found out that THE Save Ferris water tower was about to be demolished, it didn’t sit well with Ferris Bueller fans everywhere, and after a campaign, the water tower still stands.

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Courtesy of YouTube

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Get your kazoos ready. 

Remember in Sixteen Candles when the bus came around the corner and you could hear chaos from the open windows? This happened in Northbrook as well. To be exact, 1225 Cedar Lane, across from the Northbrook Village Hall.

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To get the best view of the Save Ferris water tower, go to the Northbrook Public Library and sit on the John Hughes memorial bench. The bench is in the library parking lot and can be found at 1201 Cedar Lane. 

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By the way, there’s an incredible ice cream shop right around the corner from the water tower that my husband and I have visited far too many times since I started this cool endeavor.

Graeter’s is in the heart of Shermer, er, Northbrook. Get some ice cream, walk to the water tower, and just be.

Graeter’s is located at 1347 Shermer Road.

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Des Plaines, Illinois

Set your GPS to the address 9511 Harrison Street Des Plaines.
It will take you to Shermer High School, the former Maine North High School.

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It’s now the headquarters to the Illinois State Police.

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You can’t go inside or you’ll be handcuffed.
Unless, of course, it’s your thing, in which case, go for it.
(Bender would be proud)

You can also read about how I got into The Breakfast Club high school here.

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So here’s where there’s some disagreement: most people, including myself, assumed that the field scene in which Bender gives the fist pump at the end of the film took place across the street from this former school.

Here:

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Others believe it happened at Glenbrook North High School, which is mentioned in the credits. That school, however, was only used for interior shots.

Thank you to reader Laura for pointing out that the actual field was at Maine South High School, which is about 15 minutes away. However, I did leave the rest of this ending in because I am too lazy to go down to Maine South High School, so this will have to suffice.

What is next to the old high school? 

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

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On garbage day, just take care not to trip over the trash cans. (For those who are curious, Wednesday is the day.)

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But then we went around the back of the townhouses and….

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…I could almost picture it.

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