Here’s the story…of how a seemingly non-descript home in the San Fernando Valley turned into an L.A. landmark.
The L.A. City Council voted to designate the “Brady Bunch” house as a historic-cultural monument on Wednesday, enshrining the Studio City Midcentury as a piece of the city’s history.
“Long before it became a pop‑culture pilgrimage site and backdrop for countless photo ops, the Brady Bunch House helped shape America’s vision of family life in the late 1960s and early ’70s — especially the idea of a blended family,” said Adrian Scott Fine, president of the L.A. Conservancy. “We’re thrilled to see it now designated as a Historic-Cultural Monument, ensuring the Brady Bunch — and their iconic home — remain part of Los Angeles’ story.”
The Los Angeles Cultural Heritage Commission unanimously voted to recommend the house, located at 11222 Dilling St. in Studio City, as a landmark on Jan. 15. The Planning and Land Use Commission approved the designation a month later, sending final say to the City Council.
“I look forward to seeing this memorialized in the appropriate way as part of San Fernando Valley television history,” Councilmember Adin Nazarian said during the Planning meeting.
The landmark status protects the home from demolition, but doesn’t prohibit it. If the owner ever wants to destroy the home, the Cultural Heritage Commission can delay the process for up to a year to find preservation solutions. The commission also gets more oversight on proposed alterations.
“The Brady Bunch” was filmed in a studio for the entirety of its iconic run from 1969 to 1974. So how does a house that was merely for exterior shots wind up as a landmark?
Through painstaking renovations and a bit of reality TV magic.
The house was built in 1959 by architect Harry M. Londelius, who gave the contemporary ranch a shake roof, cathedral ceilings and heaps of Palos Verdes stone. After starring in the show, the home became a symbol for Southern California’s suburban, single-family charm.
For decades, it was owned by Violet and George McCallister, who bought it for $61,000 in 1973. Once they died, their children sold it in 2018 for $3.5 million — nearly twice the original ask.
The bloated sale price was the result of a bidding war, as offers poured in from TV enthusiasts and celebrities, including ‘N Sync’s Lance Bass. In the end, cable network HGTV emerged as the winner.
The channel had big plans for the property, announcing a $1.9-million remodel that would recreate the interiors exactly how they looked in the show. The entire process was documented in a four-part miniseries titled “A Very Brady Renovation.”
The show featured the actors who played the Brady kids taking sledgehammers to the interiors while “Property Brothers” stars Drew and Jonathan Scott reshaped the living spaces.
An inside look at the “Brady Bunch” house in Studio City.
(Ryan Lahiff for Eklund | Gomes)
The final result was a near picture-perfect replica of the Brady abode: the floating staircase, the groovy orange kitchen counters, even the famous vase destroyed by a stray basketball during a famous episode. (“She always says don’t play ball in the house.”) To make space for the throwback bedrooms, the crew added 2,000 square feet to the rear of the house, as well as a second story — which they hid from the street by lowering the foundation by a foot.
The renovation nearly doubled the square footage, featuring five bedrooms and five bathrooms across more than 5,000 square feet.
After the miniseries, HGTV took a bath on the sale. They flipped it for $3.2 million in 2023 — $300,000 less than they paid for it five years earlier and $2 million less than the asking price.
The house was bought by historic-home enthusiast Tina Trahan and her husband Chris Elbrecht, former chief executive of HBO. It came with a few Brady-themed furniture throw-ins such as a green floral couch and credenza complete with a 3-D printed horse sculpture.
Fans still flock to the house to take photos from the street, but Trahan and Elbrecht opened it to the public for the first time in November, offering a limited run of tours for $275.
