George Harrison’s 1963 visit to Benton, Illinois, has become a real estate listing, turning a slice of early Beatles-era American history into a decision for a new owner. The house at 113 McCann Street—where Harrison stayed with his sister’s family—was put up for sale for $105,000, according to a report on the property.
The two-story home is a five-bedroom bungalow built in 1935, with a brick facade and a wide front porch, about 100 miles (160 kilometers) southeast of St. Louis. The Benton stop came for Harrison in September 1963, when he traveled with an eye toward staying low profile before the Beatles arrived in the United States on “The Ed Sullivan Show” roughly four months later.
In Benton, the report says Harrison camped in Shawnee National Forest, sat in with local musicians when they played at a Veterans of Foreign Wars hall nearby, and later visited a drive-in restaurant with carhops who worked on skates. He also shopped for records downtown, bought a Rickenbacker 425 guitar, and visited WFRX radio, where 17-year-old Marcia Schafer Raubach—host of a Saturday teen program—said Harrison gave her “She Loves You” and told her it had just hit the top of the British charts.
The property’s modern preservation story dates to the mid-1990s, when a state agency bought the house and planned to flatten it for parking. The report says activists—including Louise Harrison Caldwell, Harrison’s sister—helped step in, and the house was ultimately repurchased by local investors. Those investors opened the Hard Day’s Nite Bed and Breakfast, featuring memorabilia tied to the Beatles, including items on loan from Beatles author and documentarian Robert Bartel.
That bed-and-breakfast later closed in 2010. Grady Adams, a Benton resident, then operated the house as regular bed-and-bath apartments, and now wants to sell, listing it for $105,000, the report said. Interest in a new Beatles-themed revival, however, appeared uncertain, with at least one conversation pointing to potential buyers but others saying the earlier fan frenzy has faded.
Brian Calcaterra, Benton’s director of economic development, suggested the city draft an ordinance to protect the house from demolition by a new owner. But Benton Mayor Lee Messersmith said the city council has not discussed the matter. Adams, asked how he felt about the property’s future, said, “Of course, if it doesn’t get demo’d, I would prefer that,” according to the report.
For some locals, the house’s significance is tied not only to the Beatles’ fame but also to the chance it represented at anonymity for a young Harrison. Raubach, now 79, described meeting him as memorable and said, “If I had known what they were going to become, I would have handled that differently,” and added, “It’s still amazing that he even came here and that I met him. I think he really liked Southern Illinois,” the report said.
A key question now is whether the community can repeat earlier preservation efforts without the same kind of momentum. Robert Rea, a historian who helped save the Beatles house three decades ago, said that in 1995 the world “went crazy” because people believed Harrison would come back, but he said, “And I’m just being honest with you, maybe I’m missing it or something, but that momentum is not here,” according to the report.
The report also noted that Harrison never returned to Benton, dying in 2001 at 58. Caldwell, the sister associated with the house, was 91 when she died in 2023. As the listing moves forward, Benton will decide whether to protect the physical landmark—or let its fate be determined by the next buyer.