A very Brady renovation.

15 September 2019, 03:37 AM

Steve Miller

Is anyone else following this? It’s a stupid vanity project I just can’t get enough of.

The original Brady house is a rather normal 1970’s house in Studio City. The show used shots of the exterior but the interior shots were all done on a sound stage in Burbank. The “house” has only one story but the sound stage was a two story house and much larger.

HGTV overpaid for the house by a factor of two and has created an entire show around reproducing the original Brady sound stage in the Brady house. The (aging) original cast has been retained for authenticity. Interior changes must be squared with the need to maintain the exterior facade which creates challenges as far as windows and chimneys. Sourcing period furnishings is a huge challenge- 70’s furnishings were ugly as sin and most folks got rid of them at their first opportunity.

They’ve put some of the most talented designers in LA on the project, some well known, some new. They’re going way off in to the weeds - 11 tread staircase vs. 12 tread staircase, etc.

Anyone following?

15 September 2019, 04:00 AM

Steve Miller

Of special interest to me is the effort to find the perfect paint colors. Computers can match the colors perfectly but can’t allow for the way 1970s televisions rendered color and how the passage of time will alter how a color looks. I’ve had a number of conversations with my artist/shotgun friend Dennis and I still don’t really understand how they do it.

15 September 2019, 08:53 AM

Mikhailoh

It is stupid but compelling. Go figure. I really enjoyed the searches for the perfect pieces.

The whole premise though, of recreating the soundstage in a house that was only shot from the outside is pretty weird.

15 September 2019, 09:00 AM

ShiroKuro

I'm not watching the show, but I read an article somewhere about the process. I think it would be interesting to see all the 70s looks recreated.

Plus, ever since I first started house-hunting, I have been much more interested in interior layouts, decorations, the ages of houses and all of that stuff. I still go over to Zillow and poke around the listings when I get stuck on something and need a break. ~~Plus I love the continual confirmation that we were very lucky to get this house when we did, for the price we paid.~~

15 September 2019, 12:09 PM

Nina

I haven't been watching it (big work deadline) but I'm a sucker for those renovation shows. The bonus for this one--they're quite upfront that the whole thing is fake. I get really annoyed at the reno/flip shows where the ~~victim~~ customer "chooses" a house, and they do a total demo/reno with a budget of around $50K... like they redo the bathroom from the studs out for like $7K. Not gonna happen. But I do like watching them figure out how to reconfigure the walls, etc. And then I like to figure out how it will look when all the staging at the end is gone.

I'll try to catch it.

16 September 2019, 09:51 PM

Mikhailoh

It’s growing on me.

17 September 2019, 11:29 AM

pianojuggler

I saw an article about this a short while back. When I saw the picture of "the house" the first thing I thought was "that can't be the house... where is the upstairs?"

17 September 2019, 03:02 PM

AdagioM

The Brady Bunch was one of my favorite shows as a kid. I used it as a primer on how white people lived.

Was it true? How was I to know?

18 September 2019, 08:34 AM

Mary Anna

Well, for one thing, we didn't have toilet-free bathrooms.

I loved it, too.

18 September 2019, 09:31 AM

jodi

So what are they going to do with the house after it’s all done?

19 September 2019, 12:27 PM

Mikhailoh

It's going to be an AirBnB.

19 September 2019, 01:29 PM

jodi

quote:
Originally posted by Mikhailoh:
It's going to be an AirBnB.

perfect. It will probably make a bunch of money!

19 September 2019, 07:10 PM

BeeLady

I do not have cable and troll lots of online tv (short stuff is good as I don't have to stay up too late!)

HGTV had Youtube or site shorts on this earlier this year, 15 minute episodes or so..just enough for me. I had wondered but then saw ads (at my Mom's) for the full series.

I'm good..I watched the snippets, fun, short..

20 September 2019, 03:13 AM

Steve Miller

quote:
Originally posted by AdagioM:
The Brady Bunch was one of my favorite shows as a kid. I used it as a primer on how white people lived.

Was it true? How was I to know?

I think I should be embarrassed, but yes. That was my childhood.

I’m ten years younger than the Bradys but that was our house. No, we didn’t have household help and the spaces weren’t as grand but we had the period furniture, Mom had dinner on the table every night at 6 and I fought with my siblings. Our furniture was Danish modern and the lamps were Noguchi knockoffs. We had the station wagon and I learned to drive in that car. We had that exact dining room set.

We didn’t have the expensive art the Bradys had. Mom liked to make pictures out of glue and rocks and we had them all over. Homework was a big deal in our house. We cooked in an iconic Dansk casserole (still have it) and ate a lot of tuna casserole with potato chips on top.

Maybe that’s why I find the project so compelling. I fully intend to spend a weekend in the AirBnB once they’re done.