The tiny Chicago suburb where at least six people were fatally shot at a Fourth of July parade Monday was previously best known as a backdrop for some of most iconic movies of the 1980s.
From “Risky Business to “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off,” the sprawling homes and tree-lined streets of Highland Park, Ill., gave movie fans a sense of the affluence and comfort in which wealthy kids courted trouble outside the Windy City.
The suburb also was the place where teen misfits conjured up their ideal woman in “Weird Science” and heartthrob high-school senior Jake Ryan’s wild party took place in “Sixteen Candles.”
Late director John Hughes set most of his movies in and around Chicago, with Highland Park among his go-to locations.
This iconic scene in “Risky Business” was shot in Highland Park.Everett Collection
The Goodsen family home from “Risky Business” is in the affluent neighborhood.Google MapsFerris Bueller’s best friend, Cameron Frye, lived in a stunning local glass-sided house overlooking the wooded ravine where he destroyed his dad’s prized 1961 Ferrari 250 GT Spyder convertible in one of the movie’s most memorable scenes.
Known as the Ben Rose House after its first owner, the landmark home was designed by the late Chicago architect A. James Speyer, a disciple of famed modernist Mies van der Rohe.
The Emmy-winning 2001 TV documentary series “American High” also chronicled a year in the lives of 16 Highland Park teens as they grappled with issues including drug use, parental divorce and coming out as gay.
Members of the 1990s championship-winning Chicago Bulls — including hoop legends Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen and the team’s late general manager Jerry Krause — all owned mansions in Highland Park at one time.
