Newly Listed: Would You Buy The Brady Bunch House?

Written by Jaymi Naciri Posted On Sunday, 22 July 2018 08:03
Newly Listed: Would You Buy The Brady Bunch House? Lissyanne1/commons.wikimedia.org

The Brady Bunch house hit the MLS last week, sending generations of TV watchers into a tizzy. While there will likely one be one buyer - unless hordes of fans join together to pony up the $1.885 million asking price - hundreds, or more likely thousands, will be making their way to the home just to have a peek.

They probably won't get in unless they're legitimate buyers; there will be no open house. But that won't stop many from making the trek to L.A.'s Studio City to at least snap a pic. And, we can't say we blame them. The Brady Bunch house is beyond iconic. For many of us, it's where our childhood dreams and memories live, right there in that orange and avocado green kitchen.

Except that the house bears little resemblance to what we saw on TV from 1969 to 1974 (and in reruns that continue today). It's not that the current owners, who purchased the home at 11222 Dilling Street in 1973 for $61,000, according to reports, overhauled it; there are still mid-century touches throughout.

"The Brady Bunch house comes with its fair share of preserved '70s style, according to its real estate listing," said TIME: Money. "Photos show wood-paneled walls, beamed ceilings and lively wallpaper throughout the split-level home. And, save for a fence, the home's facade looks nearly identical to its on-air appearances." Take a look at the current interiors and let us know what you think!

What may come as a disappointed surprise to Brady Bunch fans and prospective buyers is that interiors for the show weren't even filmed here. No, Mike, Carol and the gang never sat around the dining room table in this house. All interiors were shot at a studio.

Will that matter to buyers? It's hard to know at this point whether someone will be seduced by the nostalgia factor or by the home itself, which does have its issues:

Size: The home definitely isn't configured for a blended family with six kids, plus Alice. It only has two bedrooms and three bathrooms in 2,477 square feet, plus a converted garage that is now a recreation room. It is on a 12,500-square-foot lot, though. Hey, just add on!

Price: Some are musing that the home is overpriced by about $500,000. Of course, there's no guarantee that the house will get its listing price.

"For all the fan attention they draw, famous Hollywood homes don't always command a premium on the market," said the Los Angeles Times. "When the ‘American Horror Story' house, a Gothic Tudor-style home in L.A.'s Arlington Heights area, sold three years ago, it did so after years on the market and roughly $14 million below the $17-million original asking price. But for every horror story, there is a happy ending: Two years ago, a much-publicized Alhambra home featured in the movie ‘Father of the Bride' sold for the asking price. Last year, a Venice compound made famous on the show ‘Californication' sold for $14.6 million, setting a record for the area."

Condition: While listing agent Ernie Carswell from Douglas Elliman described the property as, "a postcard of exactly what homes looked like in the 1970s," not everyone is going to be keen on living in a time capsule. In fact, much interest in the home has been from developers looking to tear it down and rebuild - something the area is known for. "But the owners will give first consideration to bidders who want to keep the home intact, Carswell said to the L.A. Times. "We're not going to accept the first big offer from a developer who wants to tear it down. We're going to wait a few days, in case there are others who want to purchase it as an investment to preserve it."

Fame: Listing agent Carswell expects the home to generate an "avalanche" of interest - "upwards of 500 calls a day." And once the home is sold, there's no guarantee that interest will die down. "The buyers of the Brady house will inherit more than just television history. They'll also own a major neighborhood tourist attraction," said Yahoo.

The Brady Bunch house is reportedly the second-most photographed home in the country - The White House is No. 1. Sitting in third: "The San Francisco home used for exterior shots in the TV series Full House and spin-off Fuller House, said CNN. Neighbors have complained about the large number of vehicles - including tour buses - that clog the street, creating chaos, traffic, and dangerous conditions.

"Neighbors reportedly came to a meeting with the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency…armed with a timelapse video that showed the congestion on the street, estimating that 1,000 to 1,500 people per day come through the area on busy days," said CNN. They are now "hoping a new city measure banning commercial vehicles with nine or more seats from the street on which the home is located will curb the number of tourists making their way to the location."

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