A brick house on a quiet, tree-lined block in Forest Hills, Queens has spent decades receiving mail addressed to a man who doesn't exist — at least not outside the pages of Marvel Comics. The home at 20 Ingram Street shares its exact address with Peter Parker's childhood home in the Spider-Man universe, and it is now for sale, fan mail included.
According to Inside Edition, the house is listed for $2.1 million, and Smithsonian Magazine has also reported a $2.1 million asking price. What is not in dispute is the address itself: Smithsonian Magazine confirms the real 20 Ingram Street sits in Forest Hills, Queens, the same spot Marvel Comics gave to its web-slinging hero.
How a Comic Book Panel Turned a Real House Into a Landmark
The connection traces back to 1989, when eagle-eyed readers spotted Peter Parker's exact address printed in two issues of the comic book, according to Untapped Cities. By then, a real family named Parker had already been living there for 15 years — they moved in back in 1974, per ABC7 New York. The real Parker family lived at the house from 1974 to 2017.
Once comic fans realized fiction and reality lined up, the letters started pouring in. ABC7 New York reports the house has received hundreds of letters from people who genuinely believed Peter Parker lived there, arriving from as far away as Kentucky, the Netherlands, India and Switzerland. The seed reporting also notes mail arriving from Thailand. The station quotes a brief, telling line about the sheer reach of the phenomenon: “They came from all over the world, like Kentucky, the Netherlands and from India.”
A Steady Stream of Letters, Decades Later
The mail didn't stop once the initial comic-book buzz faded. Untapped Cities reports that letters trickled in throughout the 1990s before the volume picked up noticeably around 2002, which lines up with the release of the first big-screen Spider-Man film. Current owner Jack Shi told pix11.com that letters continue to arrive from around the world and across the country even now, long after the comic issues that started it all were published.
There are signs the letters haven't slowed down recently, either. IGN reports that Shi may have received an uptick in mail to the Wall-Crawler in the weeks following the July 31, 2026 premiere of Spider-Man: Brand New Day, suggesting the house's odd fame gets a boost every time the character returns to theaters.
Some of the Letters Now Live in a Brooklyn Museum
Not every letter stayed in a drawer. NPR reports that some of the fan mail sent to the address is now on public display at the City Reliquary, a small museum in Brooklyn dedicated to New York City curiosities. It's a fitting second life for correspondence that was never going to reach its intended recipient but still meant something to the people who sent it.
Shi, who told pix11.com he learned about the home's comic-book connection only after buying the property three years earlier, now finds himself the custodian of that legacy. Per Inside Edition, the buyer will receive the fan mail, meaning the new owner will inherit not just four bedrooms but an ongoing correspondence with Spider-Man fans worldwide.
A Fun Fact, Not a Price Booster
Despite the novelty, nobody involved in selling the house claims the Spider-Man tie-in moves the needle on its value. ABC7 New York quotes a realtor's blunt assessment: “It does not add any value, but it is a lot of fun and we do mention it when people come in.” Business Insider's coverage also focused on the comic-book connection and the home's sale.
Homes with pop-culture pedigrees tend to draw attention well beyond their real estate listings. The Guardian has reported on television-famous houses that pull in roughly 200 tourists a day, and Architectural Digest has cataloged famous residences that become informal pilgrimage sites for devoted fans. Whether 20 Ingram Street ever reaches that level of foot traffic remains to be seen, but its new owner will at least have a head start on the fan mail.
