Lake Forest

Fundraiser Offers Public Tour of John Hughes' Home

Late Chicago-raised filmmaker's home is open for public tours until May 17

John Hughes’ home will be less alone.

The house of the late Chicago-raised screenwriter, director and producer is open for public tours until May 17 thanks to a fundraiser by the Lake Forest Chapter of the Infant Welfare Society of Chicago.

Visiting hours through May 17 are 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. on weekdays, and 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on weekends. Tickets cost $35 in advance and $40 at the door.

Revenue from the public tours will help raise money for a Chicago clinic that provides health programs for the city’s medically underserved.

The chapter designated the filmmaker's as the 2015 Lake Forest Showhouse and Gardens. It selects a historic Lake Forest home every other year to transform and open for touring.

Nearly 30 interior and seven landscape designers worked to transform Hughes' 11,000-square foot home designed by architect Edwin Hill Clark, according to the Chicago Tribune.

The Hughes estate includes seven bedrooms, six full bathrooms, a library, a dining room, living room, garden room, family room, media room, an interchangeable office suit and a three-car garage. The house also comes with original millwork, six fireplaces, a swimming pool, bluestone terraces and professionally landscaped grounds.

Hughes’ widow, Nancy, donated the home to Northwestern Lake Forest Hospital, which will put it on the market in June.

Hughes is known for directing a number of successful films in the 1980s and 1990s, which include "Home Alone," "The Breakfast Club," "Pretty In Pink," "Sixteen Candles," and the Chicago-inspired "Ferris Bueller’s Day Off." He passed away of a heart attack in August 2009.

For more information, visit the Lake Forest Showhouse website.

Contact Us