Brian Jones stands in the dining room of the house on W. 11th Street in Cleveland, Ohio, that was used in the filming of "A Christmas Story." The refurbished home is open to the public, along with a museum dedicated to the movie.

CLEVELAND — Ralphie Parker never slept here.

He did, however, take aim at imaginary nemesis Black Bart from his perch on the kitchen sink. And he was spotted through the front window once, caressing a tarted-up leg lamp.

This is A Christmas Story House, the real Cleveland home that housed the fictional Parker family in the movie "A Christmas Story." Now, it's Cleveland's newest tourist attraction.

San Diego resident Brian Jones bought the house in February 2005 and has poured his heart — not to mention $240,000 — into renovating it to make it resemble the house in the movie. He's opening it for tours and has created a gift shop and a small museum in another house across the street.

In reality, A Christmas Story House is only part of what viewers remember as the Parkers' home, the place where Ralphie schemed to get a Red Ryder BB gun.

It's really the house's exterior that stars in the film; with the exception of the aforementioned scenes, all the interior shots were filmed on a set.

The house is in Cleveland's Tremont neighborhood, in a working-class cluster of closely spaced homes dating to the turn of the 20th century.

Drive through the streets, and you half expect to see Ralphie and his buddies darting down the sidewalk, fleeing bullies Scut Farkus and Grover Dill.

The house is instantly recognizable to fans of the movie, thanks to the meticulous restoration of the exterior and the iconic leg lamp glowing in the window.

Gray vinyl siding was removed, rotted sections of wood siding replaced and the porch largely rebuilt. ICI Paints matched the exterior paint colors, so the yellow siding and green trim wear the precise shades they did in the 1983 movie.

In the backyard, the shed that was swarmed by Black Bart's gang still stands, overlooking a gray vista dominated by a steel mill. A new board fence surrounds the yard, not so much for appearance as for security.

Inside, however, the match is less exact. Although Jones, 30, said the set was designed to roughly fit the house's general footprint, the rooms were bigger and the set had features the real house lacked — a dining room, for example, and a staircase with two landings.

So Jones hired Mike Foster, a contractor recommended to him by the Cleveland Restoration Society, to renovate what had been a duplex and make it resemble more closely the interior of the Parker home. It's more a suggestion of the movie set than a replica, but Jones and Foster have taken pains to re-create it as faithfully as possible.The construction crew took out a first-floor bedroom and cut a hole in the ceiling to put in the stairs, and a fake fireplace was installed to mimic the one in the movie. A bathroom was gutted to allow for widening the kitchen, which is outfitted with a brown-painted wainscot, the same model of White Star stove that appears in the movie and a sink with doors below, just like the ones Ralphie's brother, Randy, hid behind.The crew even cut the 12-inch-square, brown-and-white linoleum floor tiles down to 9 inches to match what would have been available at the time the movie was set, around 1940."We've done all kinds of crazy stuff to the place," Jones said.The house is gradually being furnished, largely with donations from fans.Someone even ponied up a spherical silver shot-glass set, just like the one that sits atop the Parkers' floor radio.Part of the house is private, a tiny apartment that Jones occupies during his stays."Me and my wife have kind of tossed the idea (of moving to Cleveland) around," Jones said, "but it's cold here."

<B>WHAT: </B>A Christmas Story House is at 3159 W. 11th St., Cleveland.<B>WHERE: </B>To get there, take Interstate 71 and exit at West 14th Street. Turn right onto Rowley Avenue and right onto West 11th Street.<B>WHEN: </B>Hours for the house are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Wednesdays through Saturdays and noon to 5 p.m. Sundays. Starting Jan. 16, the house will be closed Wednesdays, Mondays and Tuesdays.<B>COST: </B>Tickets to the house are $5 for adults and $3 for children younger than 12. Group discounts are available for parties of 20 or more.More information is at www.achristmasstoryhouse.com or 216-298-4919.

The exterior of the house was shown extensively in the movie. But with the exception of two scenes, most of the interior shots were filmed on a set.