How Josh Dickerson Became Owner of the House From A Christmas Story

Josh Dickerson has been involved with the House From A Christmas Story since the day it opened in 2006 and hundreds of people showed up to see the property renovated and redecorated to look like it did as the Parkers’ home in the 1983 classic holiday film. 

Dickerson started working at the house as a volunteer before taking a job as the company’s warehouse supervisor in 2008, helping package and sell souvenirs such as “pink nightmare” bunny suits and leg lamps. The Cleveland native worked his way up, becoming the attraction’s chief operating officer and then chief executive officer. In 2024, he added another title — managing partner — after the House From A Christmas Story’s original owner, Brian Jones, began searching for a buyer. 

In late November 2023, after countless conversations with potential buyers, Jones announced that Dickerson would be taking over operations. Dickerson has some ideas for changing things up, but he says there are no plans to fix what isn’t broken. 

“We’ve been pretty good at what we’ve done,” he says.

The complex now includes a museum, gift shop, the Parker home and the Bumpuses’ house next door. Did you have any idea it would become this big?
None. My first wife and I worked together initially. We thought, “Let’s get the bills paid off; there’s no way this can last forever.” Our first tour guides were volunteers. Now we employ around 20 people year-round, not including seasonal staff. Usually, we bring on another dozen people at the house in November and December.

The movie is more than 40 years old. The house has been open for almost 20 years. What’s their enduring appeal?
There are so many scenes that resonate: helping your dad change a tire, that scene at the school with the dare, hoping for that holy grail Christmas present. And I think that’s why it has such staying power. People are so overjoyed to visit. For some people it’s even a bucket list item. In our museum, we ask people to send in fan art, and I love that people contribute. 

The house and museum have an extensive collection. Is there anything you’re missing?
Rumor has it that a leg lamp from the movie exists. It survived and it was on eBay briefly. If we could ever have that, that would be great. Peter Billingsley has the bunny suit and the cowboy outfit, and I don’t think he’ll part with that. We were able to get the blackboard from the school that got torn down. ... Just the other day, someone found an old Little Orphan Annie decoder ring. It wasn’t from the movie, but it was period-accurate, so they sent it to us.

For more information, go to housefromachristmasstory.com.

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