Here\u2019s the story of a house named Brady.<\/p>\n
The iconic \u201cBrady Bunch\u201d house \u2014 the second-most photographed home in the nation after the White House \u2014 is being considered for landmark status.<\/p>\n
The Studio City, CA, abode was presented last week to the Cultural Heritage Commission in Los Angeles in the first of four hearings in the process.<\/p>\n
The Brady Bunch house as it appeared on the beloved sitcom (above), and what it looks like now. CBS via Getty Images<\/p>\n
Before the Nov. 6 hearing, Christopher Knight, who played middle brother Peter Brady in the 1970s hit TV series, posted on Instagram<\/a> to ask for letters of support for \u201cAmerica\u2019s childhood home.\u201d<\/p>\n Knight told The Post that fans are known to cry when they step foot inside. <\/p>\n \u201cI think it represents sanctuary . . . that we have a supportive, loving place to call home,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cI believe people think that there\u2019s a little Brady in all of us. There\u2019s an aspirational component to it, that we can all do better.\u201d<\/p>\n The home\u2019s current owner, Tina Trahan, who bought the home for $3.2 million in 2023, hired architectural historian Heather Goers, who worked on saving Marilyn Monroe\u2019s house, to write the nomination application. <\/p>\n \u201cI lost count of the number of letters I got. I\u2019m reading them and I\u2019m bawling every night,\u201d Goers said. \u201cI did not anticipate the number of people whose childhoods were so deeply impacted by this show.<\/p>\n \u201cThe Brady Bunch\u201d aired on ABC from 1969 until 1974. Disney General Entertainment Content via Getty Images<\/p>\n Knight added, \u201cIt represents either a reflection of their own life, if they, for instance, came from a large Catholic family and had to share a bathroom . . . and then quite the opposite, for those who were latchkey kids, driven to it because we became surrogate brothers and sisters.\u201d<\/p>\n Goers read one of the support letters at the City Hall hearing.<\/p>\n \u201cThe first paragraph was a very detailed description of the abuse that this gentleman and his siblings suffered. And while watching the show, they looked at each other and said, \u2018Why don\u2019t those kids get beaten up like we do?’\u201d she recalled.<\/p>\n \u201cAnd he went on to say, \u2018We all grew up and had kids, and we reminded each other that without \u2018The Brady Bunch,\u2019 how would we have known to be better parents?’\u201d<\/p>\n Christopher Knight, who played Peter Brady, said fans have invited him to their homes for dinner. CBS via Getty Images<\/p>\n Knight, 68, an Upper East Side native who grew up in West Valley, CA, was 10 when he filmed the pilot and 15 when the show got canceled \u2014 but still gets letters from fans, some who\u2019ve asked him to come to dinner if he\u2019s ever in their town.<\/p>\n \u201cI feel like I\u2019m a relative to America . . . the immediacy with which a complete stranger takes me in, like, literally would invite me to dinner with the family,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Only the facade of the 1959 home was used on the show, which aired from 1969 until 1974. The interior scenes were taped on a studio soundstage \u2014 so its kitchen, for example, looked nothing like the one where Peter does his Humphrey Bogart imitation saying \u201cpork chops and applesauce,\u201d<\/a> the line of his Knight said is most quoted by fans.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat\u2019s interesting is that for us, the cast, it wasn\u2019t a place that we worked. It wasn\u2019t our home. It was where the stock shot of the house was from,\u201d Knight said.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cWhen I walked in the house, it\u2019s like a time machine. You walk into your childhood,\u201d owner Tina Trahan told The Post. John Kreye<\/p>\n That all changed when HGTV bought the house from its owners for $3.5 million in 2018 \u2014 and the Property Brothers, Jonathan and Drew Scott, created a show \u201cA Very Brady Renovation<\/a>,\u201d where the six Brady kids helped them transform the interior to become an exact duplicate of what it looked like on TV.<\/p>\n It went on to become HGTV\u2019s most-watched series ever and during the filming, the network hired security guards. \u201cPart of their job was to mark down how many cars drove up every day. They said on the weekends, 50 to 80 a day, and during the week, 30 to 50,\u201d Trahan, 55, said.<\/p>\n Trahan, the wife of former HBO CEO Chris Albrecht, bought the 5,140 square-foot, five-bedroom mid-century modern split-level ranch \u2014 which has no functioning appliances \u2014 from HGTV.<\/p>\n \u201cI bought it so nothing would happen to it because I know how important that house is to so many people,\u201d she said. \u201cI saw it as a piece of artwork because nothing worked. Everything was fake.\u201d<\/p>\n Trahan has never rented it out on Airbnb \u201cout of respect for the neighbors and the house,\u201d she said. John Kreye<\/p>\n The Chicago native then spent \u201chundreds of thousands\u201d of dollars sourcing over 400 replicas of props from the series to fill it \u2014 including the Brady family\u2019s three cars, a 1973 Caprice convertible, a 1971 Barracuda convertible and a 1971 Plymouth Satellite station wagon.<\/p>\n \u201cThe salt and pepper shakers, the coffee pot, the same posters that were on the walls. I got every trophy, plaque and ribbon remade,\u201d Trahan explained.<\/p>\n She even had the \u201cBrady Booth\u201d dunk tank<\/a> that was featured on the show built in the backyard, bought a Kitty Karry-all doll <\/a>like the one Cindy had, got Alice\u2019s bowling shirt remade and found a duplicate of the vase Peter broke<\/a> by playing basketball in the house.<\/p>\n \u201cShe\u2019s taken it to a whole other level. There\u2019s a chalkboard in the kitchen, and she\u2019s made sure that the writing on it is from one of our episodes,\u201d added Knight, who hosts a podcast, The Real Brady Bros<\/a>, with his co-star, Barry Williams, who played Greg.<\/p>\n Trahan spent close to two years purchasing replicas or getting custom-made duplicates of the props used inside the Brady home. John Kreye<\/p>\n Trahan now partners with nonprofits such as No Kid Hungry and the John Ritter Foundation to offer 90-minute tours of the house<\/a>, which cost $275 per person, where every dollar goes back to the charity \u2014 and sometimes the Brady \u201ckids\u201d themselves serve as tour guides.<\/p>\n \u201cPeople freak out,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n \u201cBecause they\u2019re walking up to the house and Peter Brady is opening the door \u2026 Everybody had a crush on Peter.\u201d<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t