Here’s the story of a house called Brady
Sherwood Schwartz, the late creator of the 1970s television series The Brady Bunch, chose the house at 11222 Dilling Street supposedly because he felt it looked like the home of an architect, the occupation of the fictional Brady patriarch. The Studio City residence would somehow hold a family, and that’s the way it became the Brady front.
The Dilling house was used only for exterior shots, however. The Bradys’ early-1970s kitchen with rust-colored countertops and avocado-green appliances, the iconic floating staircase, and the rest of the interior were created on Stage 5 in Paramount Studios. The single-story Dilling house, built in 1959, didn’t match up with the two-story soundstage interior, so a faux window was temporarily added to the left to give the appearance of a second floor, filmed, and then removed. The same exterior shots were used like stock footage throughout the five years that the series aired.
Info
Address 11222 Dilling Street, Studio City, CA 91602 | Public Transport Red Line to Universal City/Studio City Station, then a .7-mile walk | Getting there Best as a drive-by, but unmetered street parking available | Hours Viewable from the street only; private residence, not open to the public.| Tip Drive-by a mid-century architectural classic, Raphael Soriano’s El Paradiso (11468 Dona Cecilia Drive, Studio City, CA 91604), built in 1964 out of aluminum and glass for an aluminum mogul and his wife. Soriano had the foresight to include three bathrooms. Mr. Brady, are you listening?
The house last sold in 1979 for $61,000, according to Zillow.com. Current estimates bring the value up to almost $2 million. Not a bad investment. The house’s facade looks pretty much the same as it did during its brief close-up. The owners have added a low, gated fence around the property to keep Brady fans at bay, many of whom would take the liberty of walking up the front steps or even audaciously peeking in the window or knocking on the door. Don’t let that be you. Respect the privacy of the owner. It’s not the same house on the inside anyway. Television is about creating illusions.
Popular as it became, it was only in syndication that the series about the blended family of eight gained the fan base and loyal audience that eluded The Brady Bunch during its original run, from 1969 to 1974.
The eternal question remains, if Mr. Brady was an architect, why didn’t he design an additional bathroom? Six kids sharing one bathroom? Crazy making.
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