Tina Trahan’s husband had one query when she spent $3.2 million on the “Brady Bunch” home: “Have you ever misplaced your thoughts?”
After a two-year marketing campaign she spearheaded, the modest Studio Metropolis dwelling used for the outside pictures of the beloved Nineteen Seventies sitcom has formally been granted Historic-Cultural Monument standing by the Los Angeles Metropolis Council.
But it surely was an costly journey to get the home prepared for the limelight.
For Trahan, the hassle started shortly after she purchased the property in 2023 for $3.2 million.
She had noticed the itemizing whereas shopping Zillow and instantly acknowledged the enduring split-level ranch dwelling from the present’s opening credit — the triangular roofline, stacked stone facade and huge image window immediately transporting her again to childhood afternoons watching reruns.
“It feels such as you walked into your childhood dwelling if you had been 10-years-old,” Trahan stated. “Nobody can get this sense anyplace else.”
Trahan, who grew up within the Chicago suburbs, stated she watched “The Brady Bunch” consistently as a child — though it wasn’t technically her favourite sitcom. She says that honor is reserved for “Three’s Firm.”
Nonetheless, the emotional pull of the home was simple, “I’ve to have it,” she stated.
Not everybody agreed.
Her husband, former HBO chief Chris Albrecht — who oversaw exhibits like “The Sopranos” and “Intercourse and the Metropolis” — initially thought the thought was absurd.
“He stated, ‘Have you ever misplaced your thoughts?’” Trahan recalled in an interview with LAist. “He thought I needed to maneuver into it.”
Dwelling there, she stated, was by no means the plan.
“What if somebody drops a meatball on the couch or one thing?” she stated. “I’d have a nervous breakdown.”
As a substitute, Trahan turned the home right into a rigorously preserved pop-culture time capsule.
Over the previous two years she has added roughly 400 props and Easter eggs referencing moments from the present — together with the flashlight Greg as soon as used to faux a UFO sighting and a stuffed giraffe just like the one which appeared within the ladies’ bed room. She even had three completely different giraffes customized made earlier than selecting the appropriate measurement.
The inside itself already carefully resembled the present’s set after HGTV renovated the property for its 2019 sequence “A Very Brady Renovation,” re-creating the well-known floating staircase and different recognizable rooms.
However Trahan anxious about the home’s future.
“What if I get hit by a bus tomorrow?” she stated. “Is there something I can do to protect this?”
That query led her to pursue landmark standing — a course of she stated took two years and a number of other rounds of metropolis approvals.
Architectural historian Heather Goers helped put together the nomination and shepherd it by the Cultural Heritage Fee, the Metropolis Council’s Planning and Land Use Administration Committee and eventually the complete council vote.
The designation is notable as a result of the home is the primary property in Los Angeles to obtain landmark safety particularly for its significance as a filming location outdoors of a studio lot.
Although the house was in-built 1959 and solely its exterior appeared within the sitcom, officers finally prolonged the landmark designation to the inside as properly.
Trahan stated she was shocked when that occurred.
“I’m certain there are people who find themselves like, ‘However wait — that’s not historic,’” she stated.
The choice displays the enduring influence of the present, which debuted in 1969 and has been in near-constant syndication since its authentic run led to 1974.
At the moment the home attracts a gentle stream of tourists to its quiet San Fernando Valley avenue, with followers pulling up each day to snap images.
Trahan has additionally opened the property for charity excursions and occasions referred to as “The Brady Expertise,” usually that includes solid members equivalent to Christopher Knight and Maureen McCormick.
Changing into the proprietor of an official Los Angeles landmark hasn’t modified a lot for Trahan — apart from one sudden headache.
Her insurance coverage firm dropped protection after the designation turned public.
Historic properties might be extra difficult and costly to insure, she stated.
Nonetheless, Trahan calls it a small worth to pay.
