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Brady Bunch House Goes On The Market For $1.88 Million

ARI SHAPIRO, HOST:

The perfect home for a perfect television family is for sale.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "THE BRADY BUNCH THEME SONG")

UNIDENTIFIED SINGERS: (Singing) Here's the story of a lovely lady...

SHAPIRO: Yes, "The Brady Bunch" house is on the market, or rather the house used for exterior shots for the TV series that ran from 1969 to 1974. And it can be yours for about $1.9 million. Here's NPR's Neda Ulaby.

NEDA ULABY, BYLINE: The house in suburban Studio City, Calif., has attracted an avalanche of interest, according to its realtor. But Amanda Kolson Hurley, an editor at the website CityLab, thinks that's not because of its looks.

AMANDA KOLSON HURLEY: The house is this sort of reddish-brown, kind of earth-toned split level.

ULABY: "Brady Bunch" fans remember the AstroTurfed backyard where Marcia got smacked in the face with her brother's football.

(SOUNDBITE OF TV SHOW, "THE BRADY BUNCH")

MAUREEN MCCORMICK: (As Marcia Brady) Hey, you guys. Ow, my nose.

ULABY: And the plaid-accented family room with its wood-paneled walls and extremely beige carpet.

(SOUNDBITE OF TV SHOW, "THE BRADY BUNCH")

UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR: (As character) Wait, this room is for all of us. That's why they call it a family room. Get it?

ULABY: "Brady Bunch" obsessives have created floor plans that show the house's exterior does not match the interior. Those scenes were filmed in a studio. Imagine, says Hurley, a family today with a live-in maid but where three girls share one bedroom. The three boys share another.

HURLEY: And of course that's where you got the drama of the show, such as it was, or the comedy is that, you know, people in close quarters are interacting more.

(SOUNDBITE OF TV SHOW, "THE BRADY BUNCH")

BARRY WILLIAMS: (As Greg Brady) I didn't mean to make you cry.

ULABY: Like the time when the oldest siblings fight over getting a recently renovated attic.

(SOUNDBITE OF TV SHOW, "THE BRADY BUNCH")

MCCORMICK: (As Marcia Brady) A girl needs more space. I can't even use my hair dryer when I want to.

ULABY: The genealogy of ranch houses like this one can be traced in part to Frank Lloyd Wright. Developers reportedly want to tear the house down, but the sellers hope to find a family to buy it. They will have to put up with the tourists who still drive by to see it. Neda Ulaby, NPR News.

[POST-BROADCAST CORRECTION: A previous headline mistakenly listed the price of the home as $1.88 billion. In fact, it's on the market for $1.88 million.] Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.

Corrected: July 20, 2018 at 12:00 AM EDT
A previous headline mistakenly listed the price of the home as $1.88 billion. In fact, it's on the market for $1.88 million.
Neda Ulaby reports on arts, entertainment, and cultural trends for NPR's Arts Desk.