CLEVELAND — It has been nearly a month since the iconic house from A Christmas Story was put up for sale in Cleveland.
So what’s happening in the process right now?
Current owner Brian Jones tells Variety he’s screening for “qualified buyers” before having them sign confidentiality agreements.
“I’d wanted to a put this up for sale for quite a number of years,” he said in the interview, which was published Thursday morning. “It’s always been part of the plan after getting it up and running. I’ve tried to tee this up for anybody who wants to take it to the next level.”
His ideas for the property's potential future are big.
“There’s more to do here: A candy store where you can see some grizzly bears, a Santa mountain,” he told Variety. “I’d love to add a Chinese restaurant and a BB-gun range. We can make it completely immersive for people.”
The sale features all associated properties connected with the West 11th Street home -- including the neighboring Bumpus House, gift shop and museum.
No asking prices has been listed.
“Price will matter, but not necessarily the highest price that's the right fit for this business and this piece of nostalgic Americana," Jones told 3News moments after placing the "for sale" sign in front of the house.
Variety's reporter gave Jones an "impromptu offer" of $4 million.
“Not even close,” Jones replied. “You don’t even have the money to operate this place annually. Go fish.”
The property, Jones notes, is also protected by the city as a historical landmark -- which means the house can't be altered without permission.
"Exterior alterations to the structure and site need to go through Cleveland Landmarks Commission for a Certificate of Appropriateness," according to a previous post on Facebook. "Changes can include replacing doors, windows, roof, painting, porch, etc.’”
Jones has not publicly disclosed any potential buyers at this point despite previous reports indicating members of the original cast had possible interest in purchasing the landmark location. It’s a situation that ultimately resulted in national headlines when Jones was seen confronting one of those actors -- Yano Anaya -- outside of the Cleveland house.
“I was concerned about the fans,” Jones continues in the Variety interview. “I didn’t want to see them get defrauded out of money. Knowing what the place is going to go for, there was no way that those funds were actually going to be used to purchase the house. I just couldn’t stand to see that happening to fans out there. But I lost my temper. I could have handled it better. It was a stressful time for me.”
Anaya, who portrayed bully Grover Dill in the movie, previously talked with 3News about his interest in being part of the purchase.
“Of course it would be a beautiful thing for the entire cast to run the operations of it, but there’s a lot of due diligence that needs to happen," Anaya said during an interview with 3News' Neil Fischer during a meet-and-greet event at Great Northern Mall in North Olmsted on Nov. 15. "It’s up for sale, so anybody can grab it right now. So we don’t know. We’re just going to stay positive no matter what.”
When Fischer pressed for more about the possibility of cast members trying to move forward to put together an offer, Anaya offered this additional statement: “I foresee it happening, sure. I mean, it just makes sense. Why not? But it’s still in the talks. There’s five, six, seven of us and we all want to do it as a family. You know what I mean? It just makes sense to do it as a group so that we all have a stake in it. It’s also about the fans. It really, truly is. Without the fans, it would’ve never been there."
You can watch our full interview with Anaya below: