CHICAGO: The stately red brick mansion bravely defended by Macaulay Culkin in the hit film “Home Alone” has been put up for sale for $2.4 million dollars.

The Georgian-style, 14-room home sits on a 2,000 square meter (half-acre) lot in the tony Chicago suburb of Winnetka. It features four bedrooms, a large screened-in porch and the famous staircase Culkin sledded down in the 1990 John Hughes film.

“The $2.4 million isn't just because of its cinematic history,” said listing agent, Marissa Hopkins of Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage. “It really is a residential masterpiece.”

Showings are by appointment only for pre-qualified buyers and there won't be any open houses, Hopkins said. “It would be a zoo, there are a lot of people who would like to see the 'Home Alone' house if they were given the opportunity.”

Homeowners John and Cynthia Abendshien - who bought the house in late 1988 for $875,000 - are now empty nesters looking to downsize from their current 4,250-square-foot home.

They were wary of listing the home given the current poor housing market, but were advised that it could take another three to five years for prices to recover.

“We just decided we wouldn't wait any longer,” Cynthia Abendshien said.

Another famous Chicago suburban mansion - the glassy modernist house featured in the 1986 Hughes film “Ferris Bueller's Day Off” - is temporarily off the market. Originally listed at $2.3 million, it was most recently offered for $1.65 million and could soon be relisted.