The orange formica countertops. The pink bedspreads in the girls’ room, blue for the boys. And, of course, the floating stairs. For a certain demographic, images of these rooms immediately call up the house where a lovely lady and her three very lovely girls lived alongside a fellow with three boys of his own. The Brady Bunch, a hit during its five-season 1969–74 run, is now available to stream on Paramount+.
The Brady house also lives on, bedspreads and all, on a quiet street in Studio City, California, thanks to a serendipitous chain of events.
The home’s exterior was only used in establishing shots on the show; the interior rooms were sets. But when the house went up for sale in 2018, HGTV bought it and shot two specials there — A Very Brady Renovation (Emmy-nominated in 2020 for Outstanding Structured Reality Program) and, teamed-up with Food Network, A Very Brady Renovation: Holiday Edition. Both shows featured original Brady Bunch cast members.
HGTV then listed the house for sale in 2023. Art lover Tina Trahan happened to be trolling Zillow, "and it was the first listing that popped up," she says. "I saw those stairs and called my realtor and said, ‘I have to go look at it!’ And she said, ‘Why?’"
Although Trahan had watched the show after school as a kid in the ’80s, she wasn’t a superfan — but she couldn’t resist a peek inside. "The second I walked in, I said, ‘I need this house.’ My realtor was like, ‘Again, why?’ She didn’t understand. I didn’t want to live in it. I collect art, and to me it’s a piece of art. Or a life-sized doll house. You walk in and feel like you walked into your childhood, or into your television set from your childhood. This is so important to so many people, and I didn’t want anything happening to it."
HGTV had crowdsourced most of the furniture and décor and returned everything after the shows ended, so Trahan bought the place pretty empty of touchstones, except for a 3D print of the show’s recognizable horse statue. She set about finding or creating the entire Brady interior, replicating chairs and couches down to the patterns. She had stuffed animals custom-made and found a yellow ceramic cat in Italy and a Mougin vase in an antique store outside of Paris. Elements from almost every episode can be found throughout, including a house of cards, a vintage Kitty Karry-All, football playbooks and an old payphone she tracked down to a store in Canada. "I had every plaque, ribbon and trophy remade," Trahan says.
She turned the garage into a carport, then filled it with nine bikes and a ’73 Chevy Caprice convertible she parked there. For those who remember the driving contest between Marcia and Greg, there’s a traffic cone in front of the car with a fake egg on top. Trahan also had a 1971 Plymouth Satellite wagon shipped from Dalton, Georgia, then repainted it and remade the Bradys’ license plates, numbers and all. It sits out front.
HGTV security guards, who’d counted the number of visitors out front, told her that 30 to 50 cars stopped by daily on weekdays, and 50 to 80 on weekends. It’s been called the second most–photographed house in America, after the White House.
Trahan offers visits to the house as an auction item for charity events. (Head to thebradyexperience.com for info about future fundraisers.) She doesn’t lead tours herself, though. "I have been there accidentally for a few, and it doesn’t go well," she says, laughing. "I will sit there and say, ‘Oh, I found that curio cabinet in Saginaw, Michigan.’ I’ll point out every salt and pepper shaker, and then a tour that’s supposed to be an hour and a half will be five hours."
Sometimes, one of the show’s original cast members will lead a tour. "I cannot think of anybody who better embodies the spirit of The Brady Bunch than these people," she says. "They’re so willing to give their time to charitable functions, for free." The show’s nostalgia also extends to newer media; Barry Williams (Greg) and Christopher Knight (Peter) host the podcast The Real Brady Bros.
The house still receives letters addressed to Mike, Carol and the kids. Trahan is moved by how many people write that watching the show was an escape from abusive childhoods, and she says the house is guaranteed to stay safe while she’s alive. "But who knows what happens if I get hit by a bus," she says, "so I got the ball rolling and am in the process of getting it landmarked." Her hard work paid off: In early March, the L.A. City Council officially designated the house as a historic-cultural monument.
"I didn’t realize how many people today raise their kids on The Brady Bunch," she adds. "There are kids who are 10 years old who want to see the house."
This article originally appeared in emmy Magazine, issue #3, 2026.
