Last week I asked you what your favorite holiday-movie houses were and was amazed by the number of tweets, Facebook comments, and emails that came pouring in. One of the most mentioned was the classic Miracle on 34th Street, starring a precocious 8-year old Natalie Wood as the little girl who doesn’t believe in Santa Claus.
My favorite part of the movie has always been when Susan sees her dream house and realizes that Kris Kringle has gotten it for her. That made a big impression on me as a kid. “You mean I can ask Santa for a HOUSE?”
Maureen O’Hara starred as Doris Walker, a single mom who works for Macy’s, organizing the Thanksgiving Day Parade. Let’s take a look back at the sets from this classic Christmas film, starting with her New York City apartment.
The Sets from “Miracle on 34th Street”
The movie was deemed “morally objectionable” by the Legion of Decency at the time because it featured a divorced woman.
We see her neighbor Fred Gailey does a double-take when Susan tells him that her parents divorced when she was a baby.
It was also less common to see a successful professional woman onscreen in 1947, when the movie came out.
Edmund Gwenn played the kind-hearted old man who insists he’s Kris Kringle.
He’s still one of my favorite onscreen Santas.
Maureen O’Hara was only 27 when she filmed Miracle on 34th Street.
One of my favorite things to see in old movies are the kitchens because those are the rooms that have probably changed more than any other over the years.
Considering how roomy the rest of the apartment is, this one is pretty cozy!
Susan’s Bedroom:
Susan shows Santa this picture of a Cape Cod on Long Island she wants for Christmas:
Doris could look through her window into her neighbor Fred’s apartment
and see her daughter watching the parade with him:
Fred (played by John Payne) had the perfect view of the parade from this windowseat:
The impressive scenes of the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade were footage of the actual parade held in 1946.
Edmund Gwenn was really Santa that year, too.
They had to get all the shots they needed that day because retakes were impossible to get later.
In the end, Susan thinks Kris Kringle hasn’t come through for her, but she keeps telling herself, “I believe. I believe,” as she’s riding in a car with Fred and her mother.
Then she sees the simple Cape Cod she had wished for with a “For Sale” sign in the yard.
I still get chills every time she cries, “Stop, Uncle Fred, stop!” and then runs up to the front door.
The House Santa Gives Susan for Christmas:
It’s a Real House Located in Port Washington, New York.
Here’s How Susan’s “Miracle” House Looks Today:
They’ve added a new dormer window since the movie was filmed here.
According to Zillow, the house was built in 1943, so it would’ve been fairly new when the movie was shot here in 1947.
It has about 1,700 square feet and has been owned by the same family since 1980.
You can read an interview with the homeowners at the NY Post, who say:
“We just love this house. We knew it was something special before we even knew it was a celebrity house,” said Orrie Frutkin, 68, and his wife, Goodie, who moved there with their two kids in 1980.
“We’re happy to see people’s eyes light up when we tell them it’s the house in ‘Miracle on 34th Street,’ but to us, it’s just a cozy, comfortable place to live,” Orrie Frutkin said.
They said they keep a cane like Kris Kringle’s in the living room.
And that fans frequently stop by to take photos, which is okay by them.
Update: Orrie left a comment about their home below. 🙂
I love the scene where little Susie runs around the empty house, squealing with delight,
which is totally what I’d do if someone gave me a house like this!
The indoor scenes were filmed on a separate soundstage.
Every time I see the movie I’m disappointed that we don’t get the full tour of the house.
Or get to see it after they move in with all their furniture in it!
Is that too much to ask?
Update: The house from the 1994 remake is on the market in Lake Forest, Illinois.
Check Zillow for more information about this house today.
Visit my Houses Onscreen page to see the other movies I’ve featured, listed A-Z.
This is one of my favorite movies! Thanks for the apartment tour. I too enjoy when Susan runs into the house squealing. It is a fun reminder of what it is like to walk into a house and know when you’ve seen the one you were meant to have.
We watched this movie (again!) just the other night. As many times as I’ve watched this movie, I never noticed that gorgeous mirror in the apartment foyer! And I’ll bet those birdcage Windsor chairs looked perfect in the little Cape Cod on L.I.!
i love that huge fireplace in the living room!!
Without a doubt, this is my favorite Christmas movie. I like the remake, too, but this one is the best. I never really noticed how small the house looks!
I still adore the vintage films and then Holiday and Love Actually for Current films1
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I’ve always loved Susan’s apartment and the Cape Cod house – both so different but equally charming. I took a similar look at the house in It’s a Wonderful Life on my blog today. Christmas movies and home decor = a perfect combo!
This was really fun – my favortie christmas movie.
Do you have any information on the apartments from the update of this movie?
I’m a classic girl, all the way. LOVED the original, and the Santa was absolute perfection. 🙂 Love the staircase and the windows in the house. 🙂
Since I discovered your site a few weeks ago, I’ve been popping in practically every day to check out old (and new) posts but have never left a comment. So, here’s one just to say ‘I’m hooked!’ Keep up the good work, I am really enjoying the content 🙂
That’s so nice! Thanks for taking the time to say hello, Jerilyn. 🙂
Thanks for sharing this. “Miracle on 34th Street” is one of my favorite Christmas movies.
Susan’s home is very beautiful. The inside kind of reminds of me of the interior used in “Mr. Blandings Builds his Dream Home”. I also really like Susan’s apartment too.
Oh I love this movie! and I just watched the remake last week…and was thinking “Julia should do a post on the fully furnished house at the end of the movie!” Yippee! Can’t wait for next week.
Merry Christmas!
Kelly
Julia, I just had to laugh when I read, “Every time I see the movie I’m disappointed that we don’t get the full tour of the house. Or get to see it after they move in with all their furniture in it! Is that too much to ask?”
Recently I rewatched Back Street (the good 1961 version with all the neat interiors and clothes) and was so disappointed that the French country house Paul buys for Rae wasn’t shown more fully. That lovely little house is what I remembered most about the movie when I saw it as a girl. We didn’t even get to see how Rae decorated all the rooms.
Thanks for reminding me that I’m not the only one who carries her hooked on houses addiction right into her movie viewing. (When I want to drive my husband nuts, I comment out loud on all the things I’m thinking about a movie’s sets while we’re watching it. He simply can’t believe anyone would notice, say, countertops in a movie kitchen.)
The other movie that drives me nuts is “Money Pit.” After we spend the entire movie watching them fix up the house, we don’t get to see how it all turned out. So frustrating!
Yes!
What is it about the black and white Christmas movies from the forties that have retained so much charm and glamour? Thanks for posting this .What about The Bishops Wife and It Happened on 5th Avenue? If you haven’t seen them,give them a try.
I don’t remember “It Happened on 5th Avenue.” I’ll have to look that one up–thanks, Annette!
that bathrobe natalie wood is wearing? mrs. cunningham had one in a tomato/puce color on “happy days.” i remember b/c i was in college when i noticed that mrs. c had the same robe as my own lavendar one. floor length dressing gown, with piped lapels, french cuffs and three pocket slits. i used to walk up and down the dorm hallways miming my oscar acceptance speech in it. it really billowed and flowed beautifully.
That’s hilarious! Love it.
Loved your review – as always! One of my favorite movies – and my dream condo (at the time) came with a cane hanging in the hall closet when I moved in – you can imagine my delight! I always look forward to your posts – thank you!
I love this movie, as well as the remake. This is by far my favorite Christmas movie ever. Can’t wait to see your post next week.
OOH, I’m so glad you’re going to feature the remake house, I love that one! And I always love Maureen O’Hara, too.
Hi,
My wife and I are the owners of the house that appears in Miracle on 34th Street. And, no, we did not know it was a “movie star” when we fell in love with it and decided on the spot to buy it.
The dormer was added decades before we bought the house; in the 1950s or ’60s. I don’t recall that the shutters were on the small dormer when we moved in. We replaced the original wood shutters on the front window after a few years, because they were rotting. The originals looked like they were cobbled up on the spot when the house was being built.
The interior in the movie is not the interior of our house, which is quite small with 7 1/2-foot ceilings, and there are no french doors out to the backyard. The interior shown in the movie is much larger. Someone said they thought that the interior looks like the one in Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House. That could be. I’ve heard that the Mr. Blandings house also is (or was) in Port Washington.
I’m sorry that so many people feel the dormer ruins the house, but it was an important factor in our buying the house. We needed a house where we could have a living space for an elderly relative. She always loved living in a bright place, and the dormer won her over. By the way, the single large pane of the dormer window is double glazed.
Our house is one of several built here just before World War II. Their designs were said to have been inspired by traditional or historic American homes. The house two doors up from ours, we believe was based on the Schenck House, a 17th Century house that is now in the Brooklyn Museum. Unfortunately, I don’t know if our house was inspired by a specific traditional or historic structure.
The houses on this street were well-built with real plaster walls and ceilings, sturdy framing and quality materials throughout, despite their small size. We recently had a new roof installed, which meant stripping off the three old roofs, including the original wooden shingles. Although the new roof is made of modern materials, we selected a “slate” color that seems to be in keeping with the style of the house.
We enjoy living here, and, although we do not go out of way to tell people about the house’s “celebrity” status, when it comes up, we enjoy their smiles and excitement.
Orrie
Oh, wow, how great to hear from you! Thanks for stopping by and taking the time to give us more details about the house. It has really become a Christmas icon! 🙂
Orrie, I love your house just the way it is! I strongly disagree with other posters who have said that the house has “lost it’s charm”. The exterior of the house looks pretty much the way it did back in the late 1940’s – and that is a good thing! So many old houses are renovated and “updated” to the point of being beyond recognition of what they originally were. Your house is adorable and still fills me with nostalgia. I actually really like the addition of the dormer window – it breaks up the roof line and is more visually interesting. Plus, like you said, it must bring some great light into your house.
This may be a bold request, but I wonder if you had any interior pictures you would want to share with us house addicts?
Orrie love your house! I have relatives in Huntington and Amagansett and I love old homes. I too would love to see interior shots of your home 🙂 Anyway Happy Holidays to you and yours 🙂 Christina
What a charming house. I love the 1947 Miracle on 34th street, one of the greatest Christmas movies of all time. Personally I think it should have won Picture of the Year, as it did win for Best original Story and Best Supporting actor (Edmund Gwynn). The best thing about the movie is that it stands the test of time and is still a great movie to watch with the family. When you think of the cast, John Payne, Maureen O’Hara ( a personal favorite), Edmund Gwynn, William Frawley, Gene Lockhart, Porter Hall, Natalie Wood, Jack Albertson and other’s, you see the amount of talent that was used in that movie and the shots of 34th street are just wonderful. Chock Full of Nuts on 34th street is still there, as is the sign and Santa up until 1954 used to stand on the overhang above the 34th street entrance of Macy’s. it was only when the crowds got so big that they decided not to stand up above the entrance anymore, that and the fact that it was getting a little old and they didn’t want a accident with tragic results to happen! What a great movie and in fact I am watching it as I type…..Gwynn just hit porter in the head with his umbrella….LOL! (There’s only one way to handle a man like you, your heartless, you won’t listen to reason……ARE YOU GOING TO LEAVE…….yes….BOP! LMAO!) The one thing I wish was that the upper level wasn’t added to the Long Island house, but other than that, it still looks great and the old trees can still be seen in the back…..Marvelous Movie and timeless……..when Hollywood was golden!
One question…….Is the swing still in the backyard of that charming house? “Susie, where are you going? “To see if there’s a swing, THERE IS ONE THERE IS ONE!”