Barrybgb

"Welcome to Shermer, Illinois. We hope you enjoy your stay."

Shermer, Illinois is the fictitious suburb of Chicago where all of John Hughes' great adventures took place. In reality, Shermer is based on Hughes' hometown of Northbrook, Illinois. Northbrook wasn't always named that, though. It's original name? Shermerville. Hughes' alma mater, Glenbrook North High School, is on Shermer Road.




Shermer was/is the home of the Bakers, The Buellers, The Benders, The Griswolds, The McCallisters, The Frys, The Ryans(whose son Jake mysteriously vanished after 1984 and was never seen or heard from again), and so many more great families. Sadly, one Shermer area residents, The Donnellys, were forced to move when their son Wyatt and his friend Gary blew up their house (in actuality, the house used in "Weird Science" no longer stands.)



Ferris Bueller's Day Off

Ferris Bueller may of lived in Shermer, but the movie was probably the biggest love letter to Chicago in any John Hughes movie. The interior of the high school was Main North High School, which was also used for the interiors of the school in "The Breakfast Club". The exterior of Ferris' school was none other than Hughes' alma mater, Glenbrook North High School.



Look familiar? This is actually the door to the gymnasium of Glenbrook North High School.




The Bueller house, which is actually located in Long Beach, Ca Today:


Cameron's house is located in Highland Park, Illinois


Katie Bueller's office today in Winnetka, where the 'Home Alone' house is.


Interestingly, Rooney's offices in the movie were actually filmed at El Camino Real High School in Woodland Hills, CA.

Sixteen Candles

The filming locations for the school in the movie were at Niles East High School:


Sadly, the school is no more. It closed in 1980, so it was abandoned when the movie used it. Most of the buildings were demolished by 1992. It's also been confirmed that most of the interiors used were in the school too.

The Baker residence today (Evanston, IL):


The church today (Glencoe, IL):


Jake Ryan's house today. It is in Highland Park, IL:


The Breakfast Club


As was already mentioned, TBC was filmed at North Main High School. The building is now the Illinois State Police Station.



Today:


The football field where John Bender took his walk at the end of the movie is the Glenbrook North High school football field. Here it is today:


The gym used for library in Maine North High School:


Shermer High School/Glenbrook North High School

John Hughes' alma mater. Front look of school. One side was used for Ferris Bueller and the football field was used at the end of The Breakfast Club:


Uncle Buck

The loveable Buck and his family were also Shermer residents. Here is the Uncle Buck house today. Rumor has it that it is just up the street from the church where Ginny Baker got married in 'Sixteen Candles':


The high school in the movie was New Trier West High School. Here it is today:


Planes, Trains & Automobiles

Neil Page(Steve Martin) and Del Griffith(John Candy)were both from Shermer. This is Steve Martin's house today, located in Kenilworth, IL:


In an interview, John Candy said that John Hughes told him his character in the movie lived down the street from the Baker family ("Sixteen Candles").

Weird Science

The movie was filmed in the Highland Park/Northbrook areas. Sadly, the original house has been torn down and good, usable pics for other sites are hard to come by.

Northbrook Court (mall scenes) located at 2171 Northbrook Court, Northbrook, IL.


The interior of the gym scene was actually at Bell High School in Bell, CA. The exterior shot of the school was New Trier Township High School in Winnetka, IL.






The John Hughes Tour Of Chicago

This is a great 9 minute piece that must be watched:
The John Hughes Tour of Chicago - YouTube





John Hughes, Mayor of Shermer, Illinois


"Thanks for visiting Shermer. Please come back soon."

Barrybgb

Please know that this is a work in progress. Some things are not showing up, not everything is added, so on. I've been working on this for so long, I just wanted to get it up already and see how it looks and feedback. So, keep checking back!

I will be adding more pics, movies, and info tomorrow!

Melis

Great thread. I liked reading that.

Barrybgb

Thanks! It's been a long time coming. I will be adding some more stuff today.

Melis

I can't wait to see.

Barrybgb

Here is the stuff I have added since yesterday:

Ferris Bueller's Day Off -
-Added a pic of Mrs. Bueller's work
-Added info on the school picture/Rooney's offices

The Breakfast Club -
-Added a pic of the football field
-Added a pic of the gym used for the library set

I have also added sections/info for the movies "Uncle Buck" and "Planes, Trains & Automobiles".

Barrybgb

I'm not done yet. Still plan some more stuff.

Melis

Neat. I like seeing the new additions.

Barrybgb

I want a pic of Jake Ryan's house, but the two I have found have been unusable. That's been the biggest challenge.

I still have Weird Science, Vacation, and Home Alone to add. I still want to get more pictures from the movies already there.

Melis

Maybe I can make a screencap or something. Was there a good shot of his house in the movie?

Barrybgb

I....think so. I'm going to have to watch it again. One pic I found might be usable, but it has a girl standing in front of it. It's from her blog. I wasn't sure if I had to ask her permission or something.

Debating on if I should add Pretty In Pink. This was supposed to mainly be a Chicago thing, and the movie was obviously shot in California. Most sites I have seen about Shermer list PIP as having supposedly been set there.

Barrybgb

Bumping up for Giana.

Giana

How did I miss this post?

Shermer is in my top 5 list of Fictional Places I'd Like to Live. So many great movies were set here. Also I know that the library in TBC was built in the gym, but the gym itself was also used in the movie, I believe.

I wonder, besides Candy's P,T and A character and the Bakers, which characters/families knew each other.

Barrybgb

Lol.

Shermer would definitely be a great place to live. Was the gym used in the movie? I can't remember. Time for a re-watch!

It would be interesting to think of who lived where and so on. All I know is that Candy's character lived down the street from the Baker's. That's pretty cool when you think about it. That John Hughes even thought of that.

Giana

Yeah, when Bender was on the run throughout the school to draw Vernon from the study group, he ended up in the gym playing basketball.

I have this headcanon that Andie Walsh from PIP is Claire Standish's awkward cousin; and that Ferris Bueller and Allison Reynolds dated at one point. That's my story and I'm sticking to it.