How much do the most famous film houses really cost?

For a long time on the Internet, numerous users have been trying to estimate the wealth of the family in Home Alone, released in 1990 and becoming one of the classic Christmas movies. Recently, the New York Times, using evaluations from a group of experts, tried to definitively understand how rich Kevin's parents were, the child accidentally left at home. In the film, the family lives in a large villa in Chicago, and for the holidays, they go on vacation to Paris – two aspects that alone reveal a lot about the McCallister's wealth. The film is set in a luxurious three-story residence, which is why the family becomes the target of thieves, in a neighborhood in Chicago that is still one of the most expensive in the United States. According to experts interviewed by the New York Times, in 1990, only the top 1% of Chicago's wealthiest could afford such a house. Today, the value of the villa would be around 2 million euros. The trip to Paris is offered by Kevin's uncle, Rob, who has a house with a view of the Eiffel Tower that can accommodate fifteen people. Affording a vacation in the French capital during the Christmas holidays is not common, even during the economic boom of the 1990s – only the plane tickets alone would have cost over 50,000 euros in today's money. In Home Alone, it is noticed that the adults travel first class – another detail supporting the argument that the family was actually very wealthy. The plot does not refer to Kevin's parents' occupations and how they can afford such a lifestyle, but according to the New York Times, the McCallisters are a typical “old money” family, and for this reason, they perfectly embody the respectable and reassuring image of "white" America, expressly requested by the film's production.

Where are the houses of Seinfeld and Friends in New York?

Making assumptions about the wealth of characters from iconic American movies and TV series is a widespread practice online. A few years ago, the Washington Post also joined this trend: by considering the New York apartments where the stories of very famous series unfold, the newspaper verified if their rents were realistic. For example, the two-bedroom apartment on the Upper West Side where Seinfeld, a well-known sitcom from the 1990s, is set, was defined within the story as “rent-controlled,” meaning rent-controlled. An apartment of that size in that neighborhood, according to the Washington Post's calculations, should have cost around $1,500 per month at the time, but according to the series, the rent was only $400. The same distortion is perceived, even more pronounced, in Friends. The three-bedroom apartment of Monica, Chandler, and Phoebe is presented in the plot as having a fair rent, but it's strange that a group of twenty-year-olds, still far from their professional success, can afford such accommodation.

Living on rent in New York according to TV series

The residence is indeed located in the West Village, and even at that time, it should have cost at least $4,500 per month. The Washington Post then focuses on Girls, a more recent series by and with Lena Dunham. The protagonist Hannah Horvath's house has at least two bedrooms and is located in Greenpoint, the northernmost neighborhood of Brooklyn, making it an accommodation worth about $3,000. This price, in theory, is out of reach for a character who is first unemployed and then starts working as a freelance journalist. In this sense, the Netflix comedy series Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt seems to be more realistic: the basement where the protagonist lives could cost about $2,000 per month, a much more affordable amount for her babysitter occupation.