The Brady Bunch: Encyclopedia II - The Brady Bunch - The Brady house

The Brady Bunch - The Brady house

The Brady Bunch - House setting

The house used in exterior shots of the series (which bore no relation to the interior design of the house) is located at 11222 Dilling St. in North Hollywood in the San Fernando Valley, within the city limits of Los Angeles, California. According to a 1994 article in the Los Angeles Times, the house was built in 1959 and selected as the Brady residence because series creator Schwartz felt it looked like a home where an architect would live.

The address of the house in the series was given as 4222 Clinton Way (or Avenue), and although no city was ever specified, it was clear from references to the Los Angeles Dodgers, the Los Angeles Rams and a Hollywood movie studio that the Bradys lived in Southern California.

The real house was a split-level, but a false window was attached to the front to make it look like it had two full stories for filming. In the years since the show first aired, those who have owned the house have had problems with visitors who trespass on the property to peep into the windows (perhaps expecting to see an interior that looked like the set of The Brady Bunch), or who even come to the front door asking to see the Bradys.

As a result, the house's exterior has been extensively re-landscaped, so that to someone casually driving by it most likely would not be recognizable as the house used in the exterior shots from the TV show. For one who already knows the house's history, though, it is indeed still recognizable as the Brady house.

The Brady Bunch - House exterior

The Brady house has a rather skimpy rear yard, crowded with assorted play equipment and the doghouse that only had a canine occupant in the first season and occasionally thereafter. There is also a brick barbecue, seen in actual use twice: First in the 3rd season in the episode "Dough Re Mi" when Greg approaches Alice as she puts raw hamburger meat on it (you can see fake smoke rising from the grill which was actually dry ice!)- perhaps in preparation for supper. The second time was on the 4th season's "How To Succeed In Business", but which Mike was cleaning up in anticipation of use in one episode. The "garage", actually a carport, had storage areas and a workbench. Boys' and girls' clubhouses seem only to appear in an early episode. The side of the yard opposite the garage has a gate, where it leads to is not clear. The Ditmeyers are the neighbours living behind the fence next to the driveway.

Rear access to the house consisted mainly of patio doors (with no apparent lock in "A Camping We Will Go"), although in "Sorry, Right Number", Alice and Sam exit in a manner that implies that there is another rear exit near Alice's room and the laundry room. This was refered several times throughout the series run as the "service porch"- which viewers never actually saw. The patio doors seem to provide access to at least three rooms: the family room, kitchen/breakfast nook, and the dining room.

The Brady Bunch - House interior

The kitchen has a fixed island with range, sink and other counter space, while two ovens are on the wall behind it. The rear counter has more counter space (including various countertop appliances), plenty of cupboards and lower cabinets, and another sink. A small utility closet sits in one corner, next to the side-by-side refrigerator/freezer; a small chalkboard often hung on the outer door in later seasons.

There is also a table with seating room for six; this is where the Bradys often ate their breakfast, lunch and snacks. In the movie "A Very Brady Christmas," the tiled back wall of the kitchen is replaced with glass bricks over at least a portion. This was but one example of the myriad continuity problems the show endured as it was generally understood that Alice's bedroom presumably existed behind this same wall. The glass bricks in the movie suggested that Alice's room either no longer existed, or that the long presumed location for Alice's bedroom was the error of viewers' imagination; a microwave oven can also be seen in place of one of the ovens. In the earlier days, the kitchen was a vibrant orange.

Behind the kitchen is Alice's room (presumably with her own bathroom) and a utility room, which was changed several times throughout the series run. There was no other downstairs bathroom until A Very Brady Christmas. However, there was believed to be a bathroom to the left as Mike's study was to the right.

The dining room (which has seating room for all eight Bradys) is an extension of the living room; it also contained a china hutch. The living room is furnished with two green chairs, a couch, and a coffee table, where a telephone sat. There is also a console television set, which was never used in the series (except in a promo photograph). Adjacent to one of the chairs is a fireplace, that only had a fire in one episode. A drink bar (where Mike mixed alcoholic beverages) was seen in only one first-season episode. Beneath the staircase is a raised area, which contained but a single modern cabinet. Below and adjacent to the staircase sat a wood chest, and upon it sat a decorative horse sculpture (the one that figured heavily into the plot of A Very Brady Sequel).

There are two first-floor raised areas: an entry vestibule to a pair of double front doors (this area also contained a walk-in coat closet); and another raised area for the staircase and the entrance to Mike's study.

Mike's study is separated from the living room by a half-height stone wall, atop of which are two square red-brick columns (which most likely represented the chimneys for the two fireplaces) plus closable wooden shutters for privacy. The study has only one entrance to it. Fixtures in this room include Mike's drafting table (with ample storage for his supplies), a hutch containing a bookcase for his reference materials, an end table, a phone, and a couch and a couple of leather "occasional" chairs. The study also has its own fireplace, situated behind and to the side of the one in the living room.

On the other side of the kitchen is the family room, where the family frequently entered the house (through the sliding patio doors). Many of the family meetings took place in this room. The room was furnished with a snack bar (which protruded into the kitchen and contained an old rotary phone), a recreation table (with four chairs), a pair of chaise lounges and a portable television set (purchased by the kids with trading stamps in the episode "54/40 and Fight!"). Midway through the second season, a stereo system was added (which Alice had won in a contest). A medium-sized picture window allowed a view into the back yard.

At the top of the stairs, there is a dog leg to the right and then left again. A door at the top of the stairs was never opened, but if you study and follow the floorplan carefully, you'll conclude that this "mystery door" leads into one of Mike and Carol's bedroom closets! Mike and Carol's bedroom is off to the left of this hall, and directly across from the boy's bedroom; they had a queen-size bed with a phone on a nightstand on one side and a dedicated master bathroom. Behind Mike and Carol's bed existed what appears to be something of a dressing area (featured briefly in the episode "The Grass is Always Greener"). In this dressing area sat a modern dresser. At the right side of the hallway are the boys' bedroom, the children's shared bathroom and the girls' room; each bedroom opened into the bathroom via wooden sliding doors.

A door toward the end of the hallway opens to a stairway up to the spacious attic. This room became Greg's bedroom in the fourth-season.

The upstairs hallway also has a walk-in linen closet, which contains a heating duct that allows anyone to listen in on conversations taking place in the attic/Greg's room.

Although no basement was ever seen, in the episode "Confessions, Confessions", Peter assigns Greg the "punishment" of hosing down the window screens and storing them in the cellar. The basement also presumably contains the fuse box, which switches the Bradys' electricity on and off.

The Brady Bunch - The Bradys' cars

During the first two seasons, each of the Brady family's motor vehicles were supplied by Chrysler Corporation: a blue 1969 Plymouth Fury III convertible (which Mike drove) and a light brown 1969 Plymouth Satellite station wagon.

For the 1971–1972 season, the Bradys obtained new vehicles, once again supplied by Chrysler Corporation: a blue 1971 Plymouth Barracuda convertible and a brown 1971 Plymouth Satellite Regent station wagon. The 1971 Barracuda was modified during the 1971 – 1972 season into a 1972 model, with the addition of that year's particular grille and tail light combination (interestingly, the Chrysler Corporation never produced a 1972 Barracuda convertible). Greg, who by this time had his license, sometimes drove Mike's convertible, although he briefly owned a 1956 Chevrolet Bel Air convertible, a car which proved to be a lemon.

The Bradys kept the 1971 Plymouth station wagon throughout the rest of the series (this vehicle played a central role in the episode "The Fender Benders"), although Mike kept switching cars, which by the 1972–1973 season, were supplied by General Motors. These were as follows:

• 1972–1973 - A blue 1972 Chevrolet Impala convertible.
• 1973–1974 - A maroon 1973 Chevrolet Caprice Classic convertible with white interior during the first half of the season. Starting with 1974 episode, "The Driver's Seat" and continuing through the remainder of the series, the convertible is a red 1974 Chevrolet Caprice Classic convertible with black interior.

There are two known surviving "Brady Bunch" cars: The blue 1969 Plymouth Fury III convertible (which has been perfectly restored), and the modified 1971 – 1972 Plymouth Barracuda (which was found in 2001 in extremely poor condition, and is under restoration by its current owner). The whereabouts of the remaining vehicles are not known.

During A Very Brady Christmas, Mike's car is a 1988 Chrysler LeBaron convertible; the family station wagon is not seen.

In The Bradys, Mike continues to drive the same car as in A Very Brady Christmas. The family station wagon (which a drunken Marcia attempts to drive) is a 1990 Buick Estate wagon.

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "The Brady house", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki