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The Architourist

The house used in A Christmas Story after renovations were completed in 2014.

A fan buys and renovates the Cleveland home used in the yuletide classic A Christmas Story

Like wayfinding breadcrumbs, they're scattered throughout Cleveland; many give off the "soft glow of electric sex" in restaurant or shop windows in the hipster parts of town, such as Ohio City or Tremont, but you can find them just about everywhere: the Old Man's infamous leg lamp from the 1983 movie A Christmas Story.

But I haven't come to Cleveland to buy a leg lamp; those are available online. I've come to meet the man who single-handedly turned a humble 1895 house in a working class part of town into a mini tourism and merchandising empire. And it's that fishnet-stocking-clad and high-heeled leg lamp – now as iconic as Charles Foster Kane's "Rosebud" – that got him here.

For those of you who haven't seen the film (which takes herculean effort since U.S. channel TBS has aired it for 24 hours straight starting on Christmas Eve every year since 1997), it's set in fictional Hohman, Ind., in or around 1940, and revolves around nine-year-old Ralphie Parker's passionate desire for a Red Ryder BB gun under the Christmas tree. Unfortunately, every authority figure he encounters, including the department store Santa Claus, smothers his juvenile flame with: "You'll shoot your eye out, kid."

His father, "the Old Man," rediscovers his own desire when a "major award," the leg lamp, arrives in a shipping crate marked "FRAGILE." As totemistic as Ralphie's BB gun, it's put on display in the home's front window until Mrs. Parker "accidentally" knocks it over. The Old Man is crushed.

The house in the opening scene of the film.

A sleeper when it was first released, the film, based on the writings of humorist Jean Shepherd, went on to become a massive cult classic in the decades that followed. Yet, for such a beloved movie, commemorative leg lamps were hard to come by (and the three made by a production designer for the film had all been broken during filming).

Thankfully, it still glowed brightly in the mind of naval intelligence officer Brian Jones. The film first hit the Jones's living room when his mother discovered it on HBO in the late 1980s, and Mr. Jones was about 12 years old. "Instant family favourite," he says. And while young Brian wanted "to be a jet pilot or an astronaut" back then, his less-than-perfect eyesight had placed him in intelligence after killing it at the academy so, as a consolation prize, his parents had made him a leg lamp and sent it to his ship to cheer him up.

Which, ironically, gave him the idea for a business when he was preparing to leave the military in the early 2000s. Soon, his San Diego condo was filled with hosiery forms, electrical wiring and fishnets. "I made and sold 500 the first year," he says, still a little surprised. That was 2003: The next year, after losing 20 pounds because he "just didn't have time to eat," he had to outsource manufacture to China.

At the end of that year, his navy-employed wife was alerted by her captain – who had a leg lamp in his stateroom – to an eBay ad: The duplex used in the film at 3159 W. 11th St. in Cleveland was up for sale to the highest bidder. He called the owner and was told the bidding, which had started at $99,900 (U.S.) was now at $115,000. He offered $150,000, sight unseen, to stop the bidding … and was successful.

Brian Jones shows off a leg lamp in front of A Christmas Story House. Scott Meivogel

Now, his task was to strip away over two decades of exterior renovation to make the home appear as it did in the film; while one porch column had been left in the original mustard colour, the others had been painted over and entire house had been "improved" with vinyl siding and windows. Inside, it was a "beat-down rental property" that bore absolutely no relation to the movie since almost all interior scenes were shot at Magder Studios in Scarborough (except for the scene when Ralphie fantasizes about Black Bart and his gang climbing over the backyard shed and he shoots at them from the kitchen window).

Mr. Jones, who'd never been to Cleveland before, phoned the Cleveland Restoration Society and was put in touch with contractor Mike Foster, who was then given many, many stills of the movie. Along with huge projects, such as creating the iconic staircase that Ralphie descends in his infamous "pink nightmare" bunny suit, Mr. Jones had to find close approximations of the furniture used by Toronto set decorators, such as the console radio for the living room, and wide porcelain sink for the kitchen.

After almost two years and $240,000, he opened the home "on financial fumes" to visitors the Friday after American Thanksgiving, 2006. "I was so nervous I slept in the house the night before," he remembers. "But we had four or five thousand people, it took four hours to get into the house." Which means no one noticed (or cared) that the home's interiors aren't an exact replica.

It was around this time that the Hollywood studio he'd contacted about getting official status for his leg-lamp business finally "noticed" him and worked out a licensing deal; they also put him in touch with manufacturers of other A Christmas Story merchandise so he could fill his gift shop.

Speaking of which, today the gift shop is housed in an expanded home across the street (it has an unbelievable amount of product, including Aunt Clara's bunny suit for $100, bars of Lifebuoy soap brought in from England and Little Orphan Annie decoder pins for $4.99) and, beside it, in another home Mr. Jones purchased, is a museum showcasing costumes and props (many rescued by a Canadian couple, Tyler and Jordie Schwartz, who made a fan-film, Road Trip for Ralphie, in 2008). There is also a two-car garage with a fire truck similar to the one used in the film, and the Old Man's Oldsmobile.

And because his presence on what is still a working-class, residential street can be overwhelming, Mr. Jones runs a charity race – its logo includes a bunch of running leg lamps – with proceeds going toward neighbourhood improvements. "If you go up the street you'll see a green house, two blues and a yellow," he says. "We've done those." Now in its fifth year, the run has helped more than 50 houses with everything from simple paint jobs to complex foundation repairs.

"We try to make it a benefit to the neighbourhood," he finishes. "A house around the corner sold for $255,000, which, in this neighbourhood, is a big deal."

Editor's note: Parts of the author's trip were paid for by Destination Cleveland; it did not approve or review this article.


Sleepover with Ralphie

The A Christmas Story House now offers overnight accommodation. Up to six guests can stay in both the room Ralphie shared with his little brother, Randy, and a third-floor loft area that is, unfortunately, not decorated in a 1940s theme. Check rates at www.achristmasstoryhouse.com/stay.

For those who prefer a something a little less homey and more Mad Men Modernist, like your humble Architourist, Metropolitan at the 9, an eight-minute drive away, is housed in a former bank building designed by Marcel Breuer and Hamilton Smith. Opened in 2014, the 1968-designed Brutalist tower, which includes both hotel rooms and private condominiums, was built as the Cleveland Trust Tower and features a swanky bar in the former basement vault. Adjoining Breuer's skyscraper is the 1907 Cleveland Company Trust Building, which features an enormous (and restored) glass dome overhead, which some sources say was designed by Tiffany Studios.

A short walk from the hotel are two, Victorian-era shopping arcades, the smaller, double-barrelled 5th Street Arcades and, across the street, the Arcade, built by the Detroit Bridge Company with an incredible 300-foot long glass and steel skylight. There is also a hotel housed within the Arcade.

To further equip oneself for reenactments of the film, Cleveland's Sweet Lorain is one of the best vintage shops I've ever been to, and I've been to dozens. With more than 8000 square feet, there are entire sections of the store devoted to vintage Christmas items.