{"id":47789,"date":"2025-11-21T13:25:45","date_gmt":"2025-11-21T18:25:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/idolchatter\/?p=47789"},"modified":"2025-11-21T13:25:45","modified_gmt":"2025-11-21T18:25:45","slug":"brady-bunch-star-says-fans-get-emotional-inside-iconic-tv-house-now-seeking-landmark-status","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/idolchatter\/2025\/11\/brady-bunch-star-says-fans-get-emotional-inside-iconic-tv-house-now-seeking-landmark-status.html","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Brady Bunch\u2019 Star Says Fans Get Emotional Inside Iconic TV House Now Seeking Landmark Status"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>
Open House TV \/ YouTube<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

For countless TV lovers, the “Brady Bunch” house has always felt like home\u2014even for those who only knew it through a screen. Now, the iconic Studio City house, considered the second-most photographed home in America after the White House, is moving toward official landmark status. And according to one beloved cast member, fans get so emotional when they finally step inside that many burst into tears.<\/p>\n

Christopher Knight, who played Peter Brady on the classic 1970s sitcom, has been rallying support to preserve what he calls \u201cAmerica\u2019s childhood home.\u201d Before a key Los Angeles Cultural Heritage Commission hearing on Nov. 6, Knight posted on Instagram asking fans to write letters of support. The outpouring was enormous.<\/p>\n

Knight told The New York Post<\/em> that visitors are often overwhelmed the moment they enter. \u201cI think it represents sanctuary\u2026that we have a supportive, loving place to call home,\u201d he said. \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 current homeowner, Tina Trahan, understands that deeply. Trahan purchased the home in 2023 for $3.2 million and brought in architectural historian Heather Goers\u2014who previously worked to preserve Marilyn Monroe\u2019s home\u2014to prepare the official landmark nomination.<\/p>\n

Goers said she was unprepared for the emotional stories that poured in with the support letters. \u201cI lost count of the number of letters I got. I\u2019m reading them and I\u2019m bawling every night,\u201d she said. One man shared how he and his siblings endured abuse growing up. When they watched The Brady Bunch, they wondered, \u201cWhy don\u2019t those kids get beaten up like we do?\u201d As adults, he wrote, they reminded one another, \u201cWithout The Brady Bunch, how would we have known to be better parents?\u201d<\/p>\n

Although Knight filmed the show from the ages of 10 to 15, he still receives letters from fans today\u2014many of whom treat him like family. \u201cI feel like I\u2019m a relative to America,\u201d he shared. \u201cThe immediacy with which a complete stranger takes me in\u2026literally would invite me to dinner with the family.\u201d<\/p>\n

Interestingly, the cast didn\u2019t actually film inside the real house. Only the 1959 fa\u00e7ade appeared on TV\u2014interior scenes were shot on a studio soundstage. That changed when HGTV<\/em> bought the house in 2018 and created “A Very Brady Renovation,” where the six Brady \u201ckids\u201d helped replicate the show\u2019s original interior down to the tiniest detail. It became HGTV\u2019s<\/em> most-watched series ever.<\/p>\n

When Trahan purchased the home from HGTV<\/em>, her mission was preservation. \u201cI bought it so nothing would happen to it because I know how important that house is to so many people,\u201d she said. She poured \u201chundreds of thousands\u201d of dollars into sourcing more than 400 replica props from the original series\u2014from the family\u2019s vintage cars to Alice\u2019s bowling shirt to the vase Peter famously broke.<\/p>\n

Knight said Trahan\u2019s dedication is remarkable. \u201cShe\u2019s taken it to a whole other level\u2026she\u2019s made sure the writing on the [kitchen] chalkboard is from one of our episodes.\u201d<\/p>\n

Today, Trahan uses the home for good. She partners with nonprofits like No Kid Hungry and the John Ritter Foundation to offer 90-minute tours for $275, with every dollar donated to charity. Sometimes, fans are greeted by a surprise host: one of the Brady \u201ckids\u201d themselves.<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople freak out,\u201d Trahan said. \u201cBecause they\u2019re walking up to the house and Peter Brady is opening the door\u2026Everybody had a crush on Peter.\u201d<\/p>\n

For many fans, the “Brady Bunch” house isn\u2019t just a TV set\u2014it\u2019s a symbol of family, kindness, and hope in a complicated world. And that\u2019s why, even decades later, stepping through the door can still bring people to tears.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

For countless TV lovers, the “Brady Bunch” house has always felt like home\u2014even for those who only knew it through a screen. Now, the iconic Studio City house, considered the second-most photographed home in America after the White House, is moving toward official landmark status. And according to one beloved cast member, fans get so…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":462,"featured_media":47801,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fbia_status":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-47789","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-television"],"yoast_head":"\n\u2018Brady Bunch\u2019 Star Says Fans Get Emotional Inside Iconic TV House Now Seeking Landmark Status<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The \u201cBrady Bunch\u201d house is moving toward landmark status, and emotional fans say stepping inside the beloved TV home feels like returning to family.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/idolchatter\/2025\/11\/brady-bunch-star-says-fans-get-emotional-inside-iconic-tv-house-now-seeking-landmark-status.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"\u2018Brady Bunch\u2019 Star Says Fans Get Emotional Inside Iconic TV House Now Seeking Landmark Status\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The \u201cBrady Bunch\u201d house is moving toward landmark status, and emotional fans say stepping inside the beloved TV home feels like returning to family.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/idolchatter\/2025\/11\/brady-bunch-star-says-fans-get-emotional-inside-iconic-tv-house-now-seeking-landmark-status.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Idol Chatter\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-11-21T18:25:45+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/wp-media.beliefnet.com\/sites\/87\/2025\/11\/Brady-Bunch-House_credit-Open-House-TV-YouTube.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"900\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Beliefnet Contributors\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"\u2018Brady Bunch\u2019 Star Says Fans Get Emotional Inside Iconic TV House Now Seeking Landmark Status","description":"The \u201cBrady Bunch\u201d house is moving toward landmark status, and emotional fans say stepping inside the beloved TV home feels like returning to family.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/idolchatter\/2025\/11\/brady-bunch-star-says-fans-get-emotional-inside-iconic-tv-house-now-seeking-landmark-status.html","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"\u2018Brady Bunch\u2019 Star Says Fans Get Emotional Inside Iconic TV House Now Seeking Landmark Status","og_description":"The \u201cBrady Bunch\u201d house is moving toward landmark status, and emotional fans say stepping inside the beloved TV home feels like returning to family.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/idolchatter\/2025\/11\/brady-bunch-star-says-fans-get-emotional-inside-iconic-tv-house-now-seeking-landmark-status.html","og_site_name":"Idol Chatter","article_published_time":"2025-11-21T18:25:45+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1200,"height":900,"url":"https:\/\/wp-media.beliefnet.com\/sites\/87\/2025\/11\/Brady-Bunch-House_credit-Open-House-TV-YouTube.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Beliefnet Contributors","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/idolchatter\/2025\/11\/brady-bunch-star-says-fans-get-emotional-inside-iconic-tv-house-now-seeking-landmark-status.html","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/idolchatter\/2025\/11\/brady-bunch-star-says-fans-get-emotional-inside-iconic-tv-house-now-seeking-landmark-status.html","name":"\u2018Brady Bunch\u2019 Star Says Fans Get Emotional Inside Iconic TV House Now Seeking Landmark Status","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/idolchatter\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/idolchatter\/2025\/11\/brady-bunch-star-says-fans-get-emotional-inside-iconic-tv-house-now-seeking-landmark-status.html#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/idolchatter\/2025\/11\/brady-bunch-star-says-fans-get-emotional-inside-iconic-tv-house-now-seeking-landmark-status.html#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/wp-media.beliefnet.com\/sites\/87\/2025\/11\/Brady-Bunch-House_credit-Open-House-TV-YouTube.jpg","datePublished":"2025-11-21T18:25:45+00:00","dateModified":"2025-11-21T18:25:45+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/idolchatter\/#\/schema\/person\/aea408b5be59bf6e05556b03859b6b79"},"description":"The \u201cBrady Bunch\u201d house is moving toward landmark status, and emotional fans say stepping inside the beloved TV home feels like returning to family.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/idolchatter\/2025\/11\/brady-bunch-star-says-fans-get-emotional-inside-iconic-tv-house-now-seeking-landmark-status.html#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/idolchatter\/2025\/11\/brady-bunch-star-says-fans-get-emotional-inside-iconic-tv-house-now-seeking-landmark-status.html"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/idolchatter\/2025\/11\/brady-bunch-star-says-fans-get-emotional-inside-iconic-tv-house-now-seeking-landmark-status.html#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/wp-media.beliefnet.com\/sites\/87\/2025\/11\/Brady-Bunch-House_credit-Open-House-TV-YouTube.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/wp-media.beliefnet.com\/sites\/87\/2025\/11\/Brady-Bunch-House_credit-Open-House-TV-YouTube.jpg","width":1200,"height":900,"caption":"Open House TV \/ YouTube"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/idolchatter\/2025\/11\/brady-bunch-star-says-fans-get-emotional-inside-iconic-tv-house-now-seeking-landmark-status.html#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/idolchatter"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"\u2018Brady Bunch\u2019 Star Says Fans Get Emotional Inside Iconic TV House Now Seeking Landmark Status"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/idolchatter\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/idolchatter\/","name":"Idol Chatter","description":"Beliefnet Entertainment blog, TV blog, Movie blog, Religion in entertainment blog","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/idolchatter\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/idolchatter\/#\/schema\/person\/aea408b5be59bf6e05556b03859b6b79","name":"Beliefnet Staff","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/idolchatter\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/idolchatter\/wp-content\/wphb-cache\/gravatar\/6f7\/6f77b66a3e683e8aeba5be93e4ae3e04x96.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/idolchatter\/wp-content\/wphb-cache\/gravatar\/6f7\/6f77b66a3e683e8aeba5be93e4ae3e04x96.jpg","caption":"Beliefnet Staff"},"url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/idolchatter\/author\/skirk"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/idolchatter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47789","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/idolchatter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/idolchatter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/idolchatter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/462"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/idolchatter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=47789"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/idolchatter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47789\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":47807,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/idolchatter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47789\/revisions\/47807"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/idolchatter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/47801"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/idolchatter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=47789"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/idolchatter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=47789"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/idolchatter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=47789"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}