CLEVELAND -- The man who bought and restored the house used in the filming of "A Christmas Story" said it was all worth it.

At least 3,000 fans of the 1980s cult classic came to Cleveland Saturday from all over the U.S. and Canada for its opening. Brian Jones, 30, of San Diego, bought the three-story, wood-frame house last year on e-Bay.

He invested $500,000 to make the house look like it did in the movie. He set up a gift shop and a museum across the street.

The movie centers on the childhood of a bespectacled boy growing up in the 1940s and his quest to get a Red Ryder BB gun for Christmas.

The house is in Cleveland's Tremont neighborhood, just minutes from downtown.