It’s a “sunshine day,” indeed, for fans of “The Brady Bunch,” which aired on ABC from 1969 to 1974 and later became a syndication hallmark, as the abode that the Brady clan called home on the beloved series has just hit the market. Well, it’s a sunshine day for deep-pocketed fans, at least. Offered by Danny Brown of Compass, the screen-famous property comes fully furnished, but with a staggering $5.5 million price tag.
Purported to be at 4222 Clinton Way in an unspecified area of Los Angeles on the sitcom, in truth the midcentury icon can be found abutting the L.A. River – and looking exactly as it did onscreen – at 11222 Dilling St. in Studio City. The intricately preserved aesthetic is the result of a massive renovation project carried out by HGTV, which purchased the place back in August 2018 after its longtime owners listed it for sale the previous month at a cool $1.885 million. Following a cutthroat and highly publicized bidding war, the home improvement network snapped the pad up (much to *NSYNC-er Lance Bass’ dismay) for $1.6 million over asking! (Please remember this is a private residence. Do not trespass or bother the occupants or the property in any way.)
As most fans know, only the exterior of the dwelling appeared on “The Brady Bunch.” Interiors were captured seven miles away on a colorful set designed by art director William Campbell, supervising art director Bill Ross and set decorator Pierre Ludlum on Stage 5 at the Paramount Pictures lot in Hollywood. At the time of the HGTV purchase, the inside of 11222 Dilling St. bore zero resemblance whatsoever to their creation, but the network decided it was “time to change” that and embarked upon a painstaking – and, of course, televised – redesign. Filmed as the limited series “A Very Brady Renovation,” the project transformed the home’s “perfectly preserved 1970s décor” into a near-exacting replica of what was seen onscreen.
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Image Credit: Paramount Television -
Image Credit: Anthony Barcelo Though the pad is said to have been designed by family patriarch and resident architect Mike Brady (Robert Reed) on the show, per building records, it was actually the work of Harry Londelius (purported namesake of the San Fernando Valley’s Londelius St.), who erected the place in 1959 for a city engineer named Luther B. Carson and his wife, Louise Weddington Carson, at a cost of $23,000 (about $240,000 today).
As originally built, the dwelling comprised three bedrooms and three baths in 2,477 square feet. The HGTV reimagining more than doubled the size, bringing its current total to five bedrooms, five baths and an impressive 5,140 square feet – plenty of room for a blended family of eight plus a quirky live-in housekeeper to share.
“The Brady Bunch” creator Sherwood Schwartz initially zeroed in on the house during the sitcom’s preproduction phase due to its upper-middle-class look. He told the Los Angeles Times in 1994, “We didn’t want it to be too affluent, we didn’t want it to be too blue-collar. We wanted it to look like it would fit a place an architect would live.” 11222 Dilling St. proved ideal.
There was one minor problem the production team had to contend with, though. The abode was a split-level in real life, which didn’t match the two-story set already under construction on the Paramount lot. To remedy the issue, a prop window was added to the eastern portion of the façade, giving the place more of a double-level feel, and the audience was none the wiser!
Now, thanks to HGTV, the home’s front window is an authentic element of the residence, cut out by “Property Brother” Drew Scott himself, who, along with his twin, Jonathan, hosted “A Very Brady Renovation.”
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Image Credit: CBS via Getty Images -
Image Credit: Anthony Barcelo The Scott brothers, along with a team made up of “HGTV’s best and brightest builders and designers” and all six of the actors who portrayed the Brady kids, worked painstakingly to transform the home’s interior into a replica of the sitcom’s familiar, retro world, as well, right down to the floating staircase the stars often posed upon for publicity photos. The highly unique and laborious construct had Eve Plumb, who played middle daughter, Jan, saying in “A Very Brady Renovation’s” premiere episode, “It seems like a huge challenge to take an existing house and make it into something that came out of the mind of a set designer.” But not only did the interior have to match the TV backdrop, it also had to be fully functioning – unlike the set – with running water, electricity, gas and all the inner workings that make a home a home – a “beast” of a proposition, as Jonathan lamented, calling the endeavor “the biggest renovation in my entire career.” One element that was strategically changed from the sitcom version of the house? The necessary addition of a toilet in the kids’ shared Jack-and-Jill-style bathroom. (The series famously never showed a loo onscreen, as such a thing was considered poor form at the time.)
The reimagining wound up requiring an incredible 9,000 hours of work completed over a period of six months. As the Los Angeles Times detailed, “The show takes Londelius’ original structure, completely reconfigures almost all of the existing spaces, then adds 2,000 square feet of additions in the back, including a second story. The additions had to be built in a way that didn’t alter the home’s cinematic street profile. (It wouldn’t be the Brady house if some new eave was poking out from behind the roofline.) So in order to obscure the new construction, the design team lowered the home’s foundation by a foot — a massive undertaking.”
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Image Credit: Paramount Television -
Image Credit: Anthony Barcelo An exhaustive labor of love, the HGTV team had to “keep on, keep on, keep on moving” to get it all done. The finished product, a virtual time capsule of Casa Brady, was ultimately unveiled through six episodes that debuted in the fall of 2019. (A bonus holiday-themed episode also aired that December in which Ree Drummond helped to decorate the house with the Brady kids.)
And now, four years later, the network is offering the place for sale, affording fans the unique opportunity to truly walk in the footsteps of Marcia (Maureen McCormick), Greg (Barry Williams) and the gang! The listing also represents the possibly lucrative option (providing zoning laws allow) of turning the place into a themed Airbnb, à la the Byers’ “Lenora Hills” pad from “Stranger Things,” Bella’s (Kristen Stewart) residence from “Twilight” and the real-life “Conjuring” house.
One of the most famous properties in television history – and “the second most photographed home in the USA after the White House” – such an enterprise is sure to generate extreme enthusiasm, especially considering the intense interest the sale itself is amassing. As such, a set of strict regulations has been put in place for all interested parties. The listing advises, “Showings are by appointment only. All buyers must provide proof of funds prior to confirming showing. There will be no broker caravan or public open houses and no previews allowed. Photos and videos and/or social media posting are prohibited. 24-hour security guards are on site.” I’m guessing “no playing ball in the house” is also on the list of banned activities. Mom did always say . . .