[NoHo Arts District, CA] – Here’s a story of a man named Jack, who stepped back in time and visited the house of one his favorite childhood TV shows – The Brady Bunch.
The Brady Bunch House Comes to Life
Anybody who’s over 40 most likely remembers the TV show that ran for five seasons from 1969-1974. This enduring Americana icon enjoyed decades of heavy after-school syndication and reruns. But the show only featured the exterior shots of this modest split-level/ranch style house in Studio City on Dilling Street, while the interior scenes were shot on a Paramount soundstage. The Dilling Street house never really looked anything like the Brady set on the inside. However, that changed in 2019 when HGTV purchased the house to create a show called A Very Brady Renovation, which brought back the original six cast members who played the Brady kids to help rebuild the interior of the house to match the TV show sets. Jump to 2023 and the house was purchased again by Tina Trahan, an art collector and owner of historic homes who has set it up for tours for anybody who would like to immerse themselves and visit the famous house through The Brady Experience. The proceeds from admission go to a local dog rescue Wags and Walks!
As the front door of The Brady Bunch house was opened and I stepped in, it was fascinating and surreal.
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A Special Tour With Vintage Los Angeles
I’m sure my eyes bulged out and my jaw dropped towards the floor. I was instantly transported back in time to my childhood. I was giddy with excitement that I hadn’t felt since I was a kid as I walked around this very familiar house, and everything thing seemed exactly to scale as the TV show.
Our special guide on this day I visited was Alison Martino from Vintage Los Angeles. She guides periodically at The Brady Bunch house, so follow her socials for future days/times she’ll be there. She takes pictures of you wherever you want in the house or yard, she’ll even take a picture with you, and she shares her stories of growing up around celebrities in Los Angeles.
I truly feel like this was one of the best experiences I have ever had in LA touring The Brady Bunch house. I mean there it all was: that famous floating staircase, those 70s orange countertop in the kitchen, the blue bunk beds in the boys’ room, the pretty pink beds in the girls’ room, Mr. Brady’s den where he did his architecture work and the kids weren’t allowed in there, the family room with those boxy L-shaped sofas that could become beds, and even a yard outside with a swing set and a garage with a 70s car and bicycles. All the episodes of the show started flooding back into my mind and I suddenly felt like I was the 9th Brady! It seemed like this was the house I lived in during the 1970s and 80s. Maybe I had learned life lessons here like the Brady Kids, or maybe I am actually Mr. Brady right now in this house since I’m an older adult now and there’s some sort of TV and real-life fusion of 1974 and 2026 and I’m at the center of a sitcom alternate universe. Gosh, the dreamy possibilities are endless.
Meeting Alice From The Brady Bunch
Back to reality Jack. I then remembered then that I met Ann B. Davis who played Alice on the show. It was in the 1990s when I was managing the front Desk at a beachfront resort in Ft. Lauderdale and was checking a lady in that I recognized but could not place. I asked her if we had met before and she said no and told me if I watched TV back in the 70s, I might recognize her. I then instantly realized it was Alice from The Brady Bunch. In fact, I think I blurted out her TV name really loud, and she got embarrassed and I felt like a goofball. I gave her an upgrade, and I think she had a pleasant stay.
Preserving a Piece of Television History
Earlier this year, the Los Angeles City Council declared The Brady Bunch house a historical cultural monument, so it can never be altered or torn down! It’s simply one of the most precious parts of our shared pop culture and history and has brought joy to so many of us as kids and/or adults. So, let’s all reminisce, become the 9th Brady, and sing the theme song together now:
Here’s a story, of a lovely lady
Who was bringing up three very lovely girls
All of them had hair of gold, like their mother
The youngest one in curls
Here’s the story, of a man named Brady
Who was busy with three boys of his own
They were four men, living all together
Yet they were all alone
Till the one day when the lady met this fellow
And they knew it was much more than a hunch
That this group would somehow form a family
That’s the way we all became the Brady Bunch
The Brady Bunch, The Brady Bunch
That’s the way we became the Brady Bunch!
Cheers,
Jack Witt, MS, CPT
Fitness and Health Coach
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