‘Brady Bunch’ star says fans cry inside iconic TV house — as home seeks designated landmark status
The Brady Bunch house as it appeared on the beloved sitcom (above), and what it looks like now.CBS via Getty Images
The story of the Brady house continues — and it may soon become an official landmark.
The famous home used in “The Brady Bunch,” considered the second-most photographed residence in America after the White House, is now under review for historic landmark status in Los Angeles. The Studio City property was recently presented to the city’s Cultural Heritage Commission in the first of four required hearings.
Ahead of the Nov. 6 meeting, Christopher Knight — known to millions as middle brother Peter Brady — took to Instagram urging fans to submit letters supporting the effort to preserve what he called “America’s childhood home.” Knight told The Post that some fans actually cry upon entering the house.
“I think it represents sanctuary,” he said. “A supportive, loving place to call home. People believe there’s a little Brady in all of us — something that inspires us to do better.”
The home’s owner, Tina Trahan, purchased the property for $3.2 million in 2023 and hired architectural historian Heather Goers, who previously worked on preserving Marilyn Monroe’s house, to prepare the landmark application. Goers said she received an overwhelming number of emotional letters.
“I was bawling every night reading them,” she said. “I didn’t expect so many people to say this show shaped their childhoods.” Knight added that for some fans, the show reflected the chaos of big families; for others, especially latchkey kids, the Bradys became surrogate siblings.
Goers shared one letter at the city hearing that described a childhood marked by abuse. “This man and his siblings used to look at each other and ask, ‘Why don’t those kids get beaten up like we do?’” she said. “He wrote that watching the show taught them how to be better parents.”
Knight, now 68, filmed the pilot at age 10 and was 15 when the show ended in 1974. Decades later, he still receives invitations from strangers who say they’d welcome him to family dinner like a long-lost relative. “It’s immediate,” he said. “People take me in as though I’m family.”
Only the home’s exterior was used on the show; all interior scenes were filmed on a soundstage. That changed when HGTV bought the house for $3.5 million in 2018 and teamed up with the Property Brothers for “A Very Brady Renovation.” With help from the six actors who played the Brady children, the network rebuilt the interior to perfectly replicate the TV set. The series became HGTV’s most-watched show ever, and the home drew tens of thousands of fans during filming.
Trahan later bought the fully reconstructed 5,140-square-foot, five-bedroom mid-century ranch — complete with nonfunctioning, show-accurate “appliances” — simply to protect it.
“I bought it so nothing would happen to it,” she said. “It felt like a piece of artwork. Nothing worked. Everything was fake.” She went on to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars collecting more than 400 replica props, including the Brady family’s three cars: a 1973 Caprice convertible, a 1971 Barracuda convertible, and a 1971 Plymouth Satellite wagon.
“The salt and pepper shakers, the coffee pot, the posters — every trophy, plaque, and ribbon — I had it all remade,” she said. She even replicated the backyard dunk tank from the show, found a Kitty Karry-all doll like Cindy’s, recreated Alice’s bowling shirt, and tracked down a copy of the infamous vase Peter broke during an indoor basketball mishap.
“There’s even a chalkboard in the kitchen with the same writing from one of our episodes,” Knight said. He now co-hosts the podcast The Real Brady Bros with Barry Williams, who played Greg Brady.
Trahan partners with nonprofits, including No Kid Hungry and the John Ritter Foundation, to offer 90-minute tours for $275 per person. Every dollar goes to charity — and on occasion, the Brady “kids” show up to guide visitors themselves.
“People absolutely lose it,” Trahan said. “They walk up, and Peter Brady is the one opening the door. Everybody had a crush on Peter.”
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