Here’s The Story…of Our Visit to The Brady Bunch House
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I walked down the aisle where Princess Diana got married, and I remember thinking, God, she walked right here. Now that didn't even compare to how I felt when I was in the Brady Bunch house and they didn't even live there.
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Hello world, it's a song that we're singing.
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Come on. Get happy.
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You.
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Happy.
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We'll make you happy.
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Welcome to the pop culture Preservation Society, the podcast for people born in the big wheel generation who raced home every day after school and dug right into three hours of reruns before dinner,
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the best appetizer ever. We believe our Gen X childhoods gave us unforgettable songs, stories, characters and images, and if we don't talk about them, they'll disappear, like Marshall will and Holly on a routine expedition. And today we'll be saving the house we Gen Xers know as intimately as our own by recounting for you, minute by minute our once in a lifetime visit to the Brady Bunch house. I'm Carolyn, I'm Kristen, and I'm Michelle, and we are your pop culture preservationists. You
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okay, you guys, now that we've had time for our emotions to settle and our feet to settle back on the planet,
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we need to talk about our Brady Bunch experience, as I have said repeatedly, this podcast adventure we embarked on almost four years ago, you guys, it's provided us with so many gifts, but maybe none as surreal as our visit. 211222,
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dilling Street and the Brady Bunch house. Aren't you still pinching yourselves that this actually happened. It's all anyone has asked me about since we got home. It's all I've wanted to talk about since we've gotten home. I've talked about it so much that I know you guys, I'm glad you're sitting down, because you wouldn't believe this. I'm tired of talking about it like. I'm it's almost like, Oh God, I can't I can't again, because you know me, I'm not gonna just say, Oh yeah, it was cool. It was groovy. If someone is like, Oh, you got to go visit the Brady Bunch house. How was it? Well, it's like, well, grab a snack. Sit down, because I'm going to talk tell you every detail it, I still a little bit feel like it was a dream. Was it a dream? Did we do it? You guys? Did we go there? I know. Okay, we have photo proof, yeah. But yeah, that's what helps me. Is that photo proof? Because when I was there, it was just going through the motions in some ways. Yeah, it was surreal. It was it was like, this isn't even happening. You guys remember, like your wedding, like you planned and planned, and you got so excited for it, but then you almost felt like you were observing, I don't know, it just was like it was over in a flash, and you were observing yourself from above, kind of, and then when it was over, you're like, did that happen? And you kind of made it already happen. Yeah, it happened. And then you have to look at your wedding pictures, and you're like, it did happen. There I am in a veil and and that's how I sort of feel when I look at our Brady pictures of us standing on that staircase, or just all of it walking through that front door, I need that proof otherwise. I wouldn't believe it, even though I just said that. I'm tired of talking about it. Of course, I'm excited to talk about this amazing experience with all of you listening, because we felt your excitement while we were there. But before we get into all of the great details and the feelings, so many feelings, we need to remind our listeners who our great friend and Brady Bunch expert is, who was responsible for all of this. And she is Susie, and she runs the Instagram account called dilling Street, where she posts incredibly detailed photos and captions from episodes and scenes from The Brady Bunch. For instance, she might post like on the anniversary of the episode where Greg's hair turned orange. And she would point out details like how the kitchen chalkboard says Jan call Eve on the on the chalkboard, you know, little things like that. Or she might post a reel showing photos of all the different kinds of cookies they ate throughout the 117 episodes. It's truly incredible, this Brady knowledge that Susie possesses. And I just want to stop you for a second to make sure everyone takes a beat to think about what Jan call Eve means, right? Like think about Eve plum plays Jan Brady, okay, yeah, so cute. Just little easter eggs like that that Susie is always on the lookout for. Yeah, it's also you guys really fun to play, like, the episode game with Susie, where we would start to describe the plot of an episode that came to our mind, and I don't know, within what do you guys say? Like, 10 seconds, oh, Susie. Can tell you not only.
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What the episode is titled. Usually she can tell you the season it aired and the episode number. It's that that that knowledge is that like encyclopedia Ick. I don't know if that's my new word. So anyway, for years, Susie lived within walking distance of the famous house on dilling Street. I mean, how did that even happen, right? And as you guys know, that's the house where they shot the exterior, and it's in Studio City, also known as North Hollywood. Yes, that's right, but I mean, right. Talk about kismet, this Brady Bunch expert happens to live right down the street, so, so she was there to witness all of the HGTV remodeling that Kristen's going to talk about in just a minute, and the hoopla surrounding that. She even got a chance to see the inside, and she thought that was great, but little did she know. Cut to about a year ago, she became friends with the new owner, Tina, and they began working together to truly preserve this house, which is pretty much the Capitol building for Generation X, as Kristen perfectly put it
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by adding hundreds of details inside easter eggs from every episode. And we're gonna let Tina tell you about that. Meet cute in a bit. But suffice it to say that Susie is basically the Brady Bunch house curator. I should also point out that we also all became friends because of our podcast and our love for all things from our childhoods, in addition to the Brady Bunch. Okay, so here's the story of how we got to go to the we got a DM from Susie dilling Street. Basically, you guys, that's just what we call her. We think that's her last name, dilling street. That's how she is on my phone. She's Susie dealing Street. Yeah, we got a DM from Susie dilling Street. On these dates are important. September 13, that just said, This is it. Can you be here for the 55 year Brady anniversary on September 26 private invite only, late afternoon, as if late afternoon matters?
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Oh, well, if it was morning, I would go. We get the DM on the 13th. She's asking us if we can be there on the 26th you guys, that's less than two weeks away. So the texts start flying between the four of us, and within 18 hours, we had the entire trip booked.
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That's it. Now, one thing of note, because we talk a lot about timing and just serendipity on this podcast, but Susie had invited us to see the house back in June, but we were unable to get there. So not only this time did we know we needed to make it happen, there's just gonna be so much stuff you're gonna hear coming up in this conversation that it was just like, this is when this was supposed to happen. That's right. And of course, the thing that everybody asks after they find out that we've been to the Brady Bunch house is, I want to go, and then we sort of don't know what to say, because right now, this is not open to the public. This is invitation only. But you know what? You guys keep listening. Keep listening all the way to the end of the episode, because we might have a little nugget of something that you might want to follow up on.
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Yeah, I don't never be open to the public, but there will definitely be opportunities for you to have a chance to get the same experience that we had. So keep listening, people before telling you about that visit when we landed in Burbank and made our visit to the Brady Bunch house, let's back up just a bit. We should clarify what we mean when we say the house, because what I'm finding when people find out that I went to the Brady Bunch house is there's a lot of confusion about what that means. So the Brady Bunch house is actually two places. There's the exterior shot of their home that we all know so well, which is an actual house in a residential area in like Michelle said, Studio City, aka North Hollywood. And then there's the interior of the home, which is where all of the actors worked, which was built on a sound stage in Paramount Studios. Many of you know the story of HGTV buying the house in that residential neighborhood in 2018 and renovating the interior to be an exact replica of those interior sets built on a soundstage. And we'll expand on that in a second. We visited the actual house, the exterior shot of their house that resides in a residential neighborhood that has now been renovated to be an exact replica of the interior sets. Okay.
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Does that make sense? Yes. So in the show, the Brady address is 4222 Clinton way. But in real life, like Carolyn said, that house is on dilling street, a residential street in the Studio City, name I can't even say it anymore. AKA North Hollywood. Sherwood Schwartz, the creator of the Brady Bunch, chose that house because he thought it looked like something an architect would live in. And who is our architect? Mr. Brady. Mr. Brady, of course. And it does stand out from the other homes on the street. Don't you guys think, yes, I I'm gonna be.
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Perfectly honest with you and say I did not look at I know, but for real, right? When you said that, I was like, Oh, crap. Was I supposed to have noticed the other houses on the street? I couldn't tell you what house they were, what colors they were, anything you're forgiven. But in of course, it stands out because we all recognize it. But that being said, it does look like something an architect would live in So way to go. Sherwood Schwartz, the house was built in 1959 in a mid century split level style, and it was the original owners of the home who agreed to let them use their home in those exterior shots of the show. The next owner bought the house for $61,000
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in 1973
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at the height of the Brady Bunch, prime time run and that's it. That brings us to 2018
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when the HGTV slash Brady Bunch house is for sale. That story took off with such wildfire, I think because the last time the home had been for sale was in 1973
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one owner had lived in the home from 1973 until it was put on the market in 2018 when all those Brady Bunch fans had grown up and now the asking price was $1.88
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million not a bad investment. But despite that appreciation and the house's fame, there was some worry that the House would be demolished, because it really had not been touched since 1973 it was, ironically, like a time capsule of the Brady Bunch era, but maybe not in the way that a new buyer would want, necessarily. And if you had someone who didn't care about history or legacy, that house would be gone, you guys. So the realtors for the house made it known that they would be vetting offers very carefully. And luckily, one of those grown up fans was Lance Bass from NSYNC.
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You might remember the story that grown up yes,
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he wanted that house, and at one point it looked like he had won the bidding process, so much so that he made an announcement on Twitter that he was the proud new owner of the Brady Bunch house. But not so fast Lance Bass, because overnight, literally overnight, HGTV swooped in with a cash offer almost double the asking price and Lance was out.
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So obviously, HGTV had something up their sleeve. They had plans, big plans, in the form of a new reality TV show called a very Brady renovation. It would involve not just hgtvs, hottest designers, but also all six Brady kids working together to renovate the three bedroom home so that it actually resembled those sound stages at Paramount that served as the interior of the Brady home. Finally, the House and the rooms inside the house would match what we saw on TV. So a very Brady renovation premiered in September of 2019, to a record setting audience for the network HDTV had never gotten that many viewers before. So it makes me think like, why don't you do more Gen X programming. Love that. And one of the coolest things, one of the things that really got me to watch was that each episode was going to feature a different Brady kid, like the real life actor who played the Brady kids to help and to kind of not really necessarily help with construction, but almost be a consultant on what is this supposed to look like? Because let's not forget everyone, even little tiny Michelle, it drove her crazy. The exterior of that house, if you're looking at the house, the two stories is on the left, but when you walked in the house, the stairs go on the right. That used to drive me insane, like, how can that doesn't make any sense. You've been telling us on the right, why is the big part of the house on the left? You knew they were going to have to gut this house to make it work, yeah, and because it doesn't make sense for construction. Why? So those of you who watched the HGTV reality show, you know how just fabulous it was. It was so so good, and it was so fun. It was in 2019 go back and tell our 2019 selves, which was only a year before we started the podcast. Oh my god, that one day we were gonna be in that
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that blew my mind, right? Because we all were huge fans, listeners, all three of us, and I didn't even know I met you guys in 2019 but we didn't even talk ever talk about that Brady renovation show with each other for years, even after we started the podcast. Maybe it was when you did our first Brady Bunch episode. We talked about it, but we had no idea. And I loved that show. I wish we could go back and watch it. Kristen, were you just saying it's not really available? It's not really available. You can see.
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First episode. You can see the fifth episode if you didn't watch it. It's worth seeing the first episode. It's so fun, worth it? Yes, and then to see the last, to see how it all looks, yeah, go on to our Instagram and play our reel that's pinned to the top. It really is quite an astounding feat that they did, bringing the interior of this home back into the actual house on dilling Street, and then when the renovation is over,
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okay, so now HGTV has this house, but what does HGTV do with the house after the show? It doesn't sound like they thought that one through, because they couldn't just hold on to it, but they also weren't going to be like theme park operators either. I don't know. It's a residential neighborhood, so that's, can't, you can't make it open to the public, right? You can't mean there's, there are zoning laws, people, right? You can't make it like an Airbnb. You, I think that's when we first started talking about, it might have been about your one of the podcast, and the three of us were like, we know what they because it was just sitting right at that point, it was just sitting there. And we're like, there, we know what to do, we'll go and we'll have like, a giant sleep over there, or we'll go and, you know, record an episode from there, and everybody's going Airbnb, Airbnb, but that's not really possible either, no. And so once again, the house goes on the market, this time the real Brady house, like, full on Brady, the whole enchilada inside and outside, matching everything you see on the show is for sale. But honestly, who's gonna buy a home that is full on, renovated to look like 1970
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especially when the price tag is $5.5
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million and the house wasn't actually livable, like they put in the actual appliances from 1869 they don't even work. It's not a livable home, so it was just a time capsule. And some people pointed out that it might actually need another gut job, like, if you were gonna buy it, you might have to gut the house and destroy all that work. Who's gonna do that on their conscience? Somebody with too much money would do that in a heartbeat. But don't worry, because there was a Brady godmother out there, and her name is Tina. You will meet Tina later in this episode, Tina bought the home with every intention of leaving it as is. She wanted to be the steward of the Brady Bunch house, and she is the one who graciously invited the pop culture Preservation Society to visit this landmark of our shared childhood, and she and Susie made it happen. I love that you called her the Brady God, the Brady godmother. Well, she's our Brady godmother, but she is the Brady godmother. Yes, you guys will hear later the good she is doing by preserving this house and with Susie's help, it's like enough to just make your heart grow like the Grinches, like
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they're doing it purely out of their love for the show and what that meant to so many people, they're not doing it with any end game, like, you know, they're gonna turn around and sell it, or they're gonna sell tickets or anything. It is all so altruistic, really, it so is, you're right, Carolyn, there is not one shred of selfish. Or this is, you know, self serving for Tina, and it's for us, right? Well, and she's preserving it for us, for an entire generation of people. But what I was gonna say is, there another house. Is there anything else like this, from any other pop culture Television Show, Movie, whatever? There is not. There really isn't. And did you know it's the second most photographed house in America, after the White White House. Probably White House is the first one. Brady Bunch is number two. Wow. It really is the capital then, because it's even photographed more than the actual
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capital.
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Oh my gosh. Oh gosh. And then all of a sudden, there we were, thanks to Tina and Susie, there we were on the doorstep of the house we knew as intimately as our own, but only ever on our TV screens, and here it was in real life. Oh my gosh,
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you guys. From the moment that house came into view, it became apparent to me that my body was going to have one heck of a time dealing with this flood of emotions. They were going to be coming pouring in, and I didn't have enough room in this little body for all of them. And you guys, it wasn't only my emotions that I was feeling, because I'm an HSP. Do we know what that is? I'm a highly sensitive person. I'm a highly sensitive person, so I also pick up on other people's emotions. And if any of you saw that video of us walking down the sidewalk toward that house, you know that we all had big feelings. Our giddiness could barely be contained, and actually, maybe it wasn't even contained. I want to think about it, right? I wonder what the residents of Billington.
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Three might have thought as they watched us clutching each other while maybe squealing a little bit and even shedding a tear or two, looking at you, Kristen, I can't imagine what those people thought, because it was a site to behold, and you can see that site on our Instagram and places like that, where Susie was so gracious to capture that moment, which I will never forget. But really, when we got to the house, I immediately thought, I need to clone myself. I need there to be three Carolyn's, right now, there needs to be three Carolyn's, just to handle the different emotions and which Carolyn was experiencing, which emotions. For instance, I was little Carolyn as I crossed that threshold into that home, just absorbing everything about really being inside this house that I've spent so much time in as a kid like you said. I mean, think about it, next to my own home, 11, 222, dilling Street was probably the residence that I spent the most time wandering through well, and if you think about it, so I had four houses growing up. Guess who didn't move that whole time? The Bradys. So that house was more constant than my own right. That's what made it so surreal to me. Was to walk into a house that, like you had said earlier, Kristen, that you know as intimately as your own childhood home. But no, no for me, I lived in nine houses throughout my childhood so that home is more familiar to me than any childhood home I lived in. It felt safe when I walked in that house, I got a very comforting, safe feeling. I don't even know the words to describe those emotions that I was feeling, but I know that it was really hard to contain them. And like you said earlier, Michelle, it's almost like I was floating above and watching somebody experience this, because it was so intense. So I had that Carolyn that I would love to have experienced the house, and then I wanted the Carolyn who could just focus on watching Kristen and Michelle, okay? Because when you watch somebody that you care about experience this home, you delight in their delight. They were so excited. So I, you know Kristen, you'd hear her shriek like
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and I was so excited that she saw something that excited her, that that also welled up inside of me, and same with Michelle. So I've got that going on with my own feelings of little Carolyn, and then adult Carolyn, just wanted to ask all the questions. I just wanted to know, oh my gosh, where did you get that? How long did I define that? How much did that cost? So it was a lot. It was a lot for me to absorb, and I'm still, still processing a lot of it, but I can tell you with 100% certainty that I am a different person after walking through the Brady Bunch house, yeah, well, and it was, it was an out of body experience, being in there, because you do truly suspend belief about this not being where they lived, I mean, filmed,
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or that the Bradys were a fictitious family. You don't make a conscious choice to suspend the belief, right, that they didn't actually live. They're not really a family. They didn't actually live. Here. You are 100% in that they did. This is where the Bradys, yeah, right. And this is where this happened. We were all shouting listeners. We were all shouting to each other, oh, remember when they sat on the couch during this scene? And remember when, you know when, when he threw the ball down the stairs here? Like, as if that happened in our own family, yeah? Like it was like our own memory, memories? Yeah, exactly the the word overwhelming is just it keeps cropping up in there. And I wish there was a bigger word than overwhelming, the experience of of walking across that threshold for the first time, it is like a whoosh. It's an overwhelming physical sensation. It was like something that had existed in miniature was being made real, or something going from black and white to color. And it became very evident in that moment how big a role that house played in everyone's life. When you got that whoosh, when you realized you lived in that house more than you lived in any one house in your entire childhood. And then at the same time, you felt like you stepped into your TV. I was like, Mike TV from Willy Wonka. I'm like, can I say that I am inside the TV right now? It was so trippy. And I kept looking at those, those bricks in the entryway, and I was like, this is where Davey Jones stood. Yeah, exactly. That's what I mean. You were suspending Yes, you really thought that's where he's good.
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Magic of that house, honestly, it's magical, yeah, yeah, yeah, it was. And for real, if, like, Carolyn would have come out of the kitchen with her cup of coffee and, you know, the newspaper, yeah, I would have been like, Oh, hey.
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I have just been well. And that's how normal the renovation is. That's how.
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Say that it is a replica. It's painstakingly real. So you didn't for an instant think that it wasn't actually where all of that happened, because they worked so hard to make it exact. And one thing that really surprised me is that my feelings about the house were that it was so thoroughly modern, which was me, right? That's what I loved. I loved that house. It was, it's still my style, and the house itself. The architecture was modern, but the furnishings were not. I recognized them all, but when I looked at them with my adult eyes, I'm like, This is not modern, not in like that cool, mid century, atomic way, right? They were more contemporary. They were also 70s in almost a garish way. So Brown, very earth toned, lots of metals and ceramics. There was so much wood and stone and brick and lots of scratchy fabrics, yeah, lots of gold, yeah, lots of gold, like macrame and burlap. If your mom's ever did those big needlepoint projects on burlap, like a big sunflower or something, that's the overall vibe. And I had to check myself, like Kristen, this is not the modern house you believed it to be. It is 70s 100%
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Yeah, yeah. So there were so so many details in this house and so many things that we all were oohing and eyeing over. We could keep you guys here for the next week. But let's break it down. Let's all maybe just pick two highlights, if we could. My first one was definitely just walking through the front door into the stone entryway, and all that your eyes land on, like I said, the living room furniture, the staircase with that groovy wall over the entry to Mike's office, the dining room table and those heavy gold drapes that were always closed, the console table in front of the stairs with the Stone Horse and the vase that, you know, the famous vase that broke the ball, yeah, the ball that bounces, bounce, bounce, bounce all the way down the hallway and over that, you know, still has enough momentum to go over the stairs,
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the entry to the kitchen, where, you know, it should be. It just felt like home to me. And it even smelled like I expected it to smell kind of old housey a little bit a little bit. So if I have to pick highlights, I really just have to go to that first ex, that first just kind of in your face moment, the first Tableau, right, the scene as you walk in and you just, there are no words for that scene when you walk across, no but, like I said, when I tried to put words into it, it was home and it was safe and it was home. Yeah, I love that. I love that. Well, again, like you just said, Michelle, and like we were saying throughout this whole conversation, so many moments that were so special. So I wanted to look at it as what were some surprising moments? What were some moments that kind of surprised me? And I'll tell you, one of them was when we headed into the girls room, there was something that immediately caught my eye. It was this yellow folder sitting open on the desk. So if you remember the episode where Jan just felt like she could not live up to Marcia, and we got Marcia, Marcia, Marcia, that famous, quintessential Brady Bunch line, that's the episode where the yellow folder comes into play. Okay, because Jan finally beats Marcia. Jan is so excited when she wins the Fillmore Junior High essay contest with her essay what America means to me that was contained in the yellow folder and she scored a 98 she was able to beat Norma coons. Norma Coombs only scored a 95 okay, so Jan is sitting at that desk, looking at this yellow folder, and she's reviewing her score, and she is tallying it up, and oh my gosh, it's only a 93 she does it again. It's still only 93 Norma Coombs is really gonna win
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if Jan decides to tell the truth. This episode has lived in my head for 50 years, like I would probably tell you, that's the episode that made the most impact on me. So seeing that yellow folder opened on that desk, it just hit me in a way that I wasn't expecting. I felt a lump in my throat, and the only way I can really describe it is I felt seen. I felt validation to this episode and this prop, but this part of it that was so inscribed in my mind, I guess it just I felt understood, like this yellow folder also meant something important to someone else. And it really hit me, Wow, surprise, yeah. And it's sort of like when you see that yellow folder there, it's another thing that makes you go, Oh, this happened. This happened. Yes, yes. And that is what Susie and Tina have done together, is they've populated the house, not just with vases and and macrame wall hangings. They're putting the little pieces of the episodes into each and.
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Every room. That's why that yellow folder is there, and it makes your brain explode, totally explode, you know, like, if you've been to, I don't know there's places in America, I'm just thinking of it like a castle I might have visited in England one time, but, and you're like, God, I can't believe you know Shakespeare actually lived here. And you're walking through and you're feeling it. I felt that so much more in the Brady house, where the Bradys didn't actually live. Do you know what I mean? Like seeing that yellow folder and remembering Jan sitting there, I was like, Oh my God, and she was sitting in this chair when she read that, I felt that way more powerfully than I ever have when I've been in a museum or an actual home,
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a castle, whatever. I walked down the aisle where Princess Diana got married. And I remember thinking, God, she walked right here. Now that didn't even compare how I felt when I was in the Brady Bunch house, and they didn't even live there. But I'm still gonna, I still. I want to do, like, what Kristen did anytime my mind goes there. I want to, like, put my fingers on my ears and go, la, la, la, like, yes, they did. Yes, this happened. This happened.
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For me, the most impactful place in the house. There are lots of moments where you come around a corner and you go, because it's so it's so there, right? But the most important thing to me was the stairs. I felt giddy walking up those stairs. That's the kind of modern that I loved. When I talk about modern, it's those stairs and it's that colored panel that's above the stairs. If there hadn't been other people in the house that day, I would have just gone up and down those stairs repeatedly, like giggling to myself,
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I would have taken off my clothes and just slid
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down those stairs. What did she prep us with if there were another people there, and that was another surreal moment. It's one thing to see the stairs. It's another thing to put your feet on them and go, Oh, I'm going up the stairs just like Jan Brady. This is what Jane did, just like this. I think the word we're going to just keep using and using. I mean, I mean listeners, if you want to start a drinking game, go ahead. You can start it even now, and you're still going to get drunk. But every time we say the word familiar, it's familiar, and there was no other family. We all spent this much time with, at least the three of us. Many of you listening to it because we didn't just watch it when it was on. We watched it every single day after school for every day for our entire childhood and young adulthood. Oh yeah, for another moment that I think grabbed us by the throat, it was when you come around the corner and you walk into the girls room and you see that wallpaper with the pink and blue flowers on it, and you immediately go, it existed. This happened. This is real. And then I look to my right, and there on the dresser is the framed letter from Davy Jones from the episode Suzie was able to tell me what number it is getting Davy Jones. And that's the episode in which Marcia has this great idea to ask Davy Jones to perform at the Fillmore Junior High prom, because she sees that he's in town on a TV show, and he had written her a response to her fan letter, in which she said, If I'm ever in your city, I'd be happy to show you my appreciation any way I can. Her city is Los Angeles, so I mean, the chances Davy Jones should have thought that one through, he's gonna be there so that they show the actual letter on the show, and it's a handwritten letter. And according to pop up video, the framed letter is actually written by Davy Jones. The producers said, Davey, Davey, sit down, write these words right here so that it would be authentic. And there it is when you walk in the Davy Jones letter
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with all that, with all the other stuff that Susie's gone to just great lengths to find and procure trophies and everything. And that's that. That's a great segue into my second highlight, if I had to just sit down and pick two, because for me, it was definitely the girls room and then through the bathroom into the boys room, walking into the girls room and you guys, Susie, and she was so sweet. She was just as excited to see our reactions to what she's done with this house as we were to have them have these reactions. So she, before we'd walk into most rooms, would say, wait, wait, wait. And she'd go film us walking like down the street to see the house or walking into rooms. And at first, I was sort of like, Oh, you don't have to do that. It's okay. I'm so grateful to her, because there, it's really kind of priceless to watch our reaction. So again, this is all in a real that is pinned on our Instagram page. I'll make sure and put it in the Weekly Reader this week, and it will also be on our YouTube page. But walking in, I just had my hand over my mouth, but I should have had it over on my boobs, because the nipple lightning was in tents, like my whole body felt it like the rest of the house. The girl's room is so incredibly detailed, and it's all those familiar take a drink things just jumping out at you. And I don't know if you can overdose on being hoosker Dude, because I.
Unknown Speaker 35:00
Definitely was the bed spreads. Yeah, and you guys, they're bed spreads, not they're not comforting. Well, sir, do face, they are old school bedspreads where the top just flaps over the pillow. And listeners, all three of us now have decided we really want bed spreads, because it make making our beds really the bedspread. Well, anyway, in the girls room, the art on the walls the stuffed giraffe. And you guys, Susie's gonna talk to us in a little bit, and she might talk to us about the stuffed giraffe, but, I mean, she had that sucker made kitty Carolyn is on Cindy's bed. I about how to fit the dresser that in no way would hold the clothing of three girls. Did you guys also always think that as a kid, I die in a closet. Yeah, the wallpaper that Kristin just mentioned, I didn't know where to look first, and then you walk through the bathroom, and you can imagine yourself as Jan trying on her black curly wig, which will forever be my favorite Brady Bunch episode, because it makes me laugh until like snot comes out of my nose. The wig is right there, and it's like the exact wig I wanted to put it on, but then I kind of drew the line at that. And the you see the yellow square tiled shower with, of course, no shower curtain.
Unknown Speaker 36:11
The towels are stacked, the same towels, like same towel. What do you call that? That kind of towel that where it's almost like embossed, it's like a chenille, yes, cut, cut design into chenille and then royal blue. And they're the towels that they used all five years. And we know this to be true because Susie is so specific that she as you're noticing things like, oh my god, are these the same towels? Susie will appear with a photo from a still from an episode where where Alice is walking into the bathroom with a stack of towels, and they are the exact towels.
Unknown Speaker 36:47
And then you guys, you go into the boys room, and that will make you cry when you see those bonk beds, the blue bedspreads. And for me, the thing that got me was the clown art. Yes, yes, the creepy clown art, and everywhere you go, there is an item that makes you immediately think of an episode, which is just just testament to how well we know this show. When you walk into the girls room, you'll see this on Instagram, and we feel like this needs an explanation, because there was no sound. Hanging on the back of the door is a fairy princess dress. And I immediately go, oh, this is the one where Cindy's gonna be the fairy princess, but she has to. She can only invite one guest, and she doesn't know if she should invite her mommy or her daddy. And so she pretends to have a broken ankle so she can't be in the show. And then she doesn't have to make the decision. And so I'm I find the dress, and I start saying, I'm sorry, this is angstrom. I can't be in the play I broke my ankle. And then I start like, I'm doing it right now. I don't even know what this is, that I'm seeing an exaggerated if you guys remember, in the episode, Cindy limps as if one leg is like 10 inches shorter than the other leg. But can we point out too Susie made that fairy princess dress, and it is identical? Yes. Susie is such a creative and she can do anything. She is a crafts woman, extraordinary. Yes, so cool too is, if she couldn't find it, she was gonna make it. And she, even now, is continuing to make things, and she'll screen her, she'll take a quick photo and send it to us, and then have it right next to the actual, you know, item that she's trying to recreate. And it is spot on. I am so impressed with her well, first of all, love of all of this that she's willing to spend so much time painstakingly cracking some of these things. It's not just like she throws a glue gun and some glitter on so, yeah. I mean, we are talking like, to scale, like she's measuring things and doing it exactly. It's lovingly so, like, yes, so much. It's not out in you. You might think somebody who would be so detail oriented might just be, like, super type A or uptight? No, it's because she really likes the Brady Bunch like she's not that way in the rest of her life. She just loves this shit as a true labor of love. When you hear that phrase, that is what it is. I'd also like to point out just to everyone real quick, if because a lot of you, well, most of you listening, almost all of you don't know Susie. She's not like this weird Brady Bunch. She has a really great, fulfilling life outside of Yes. I don't want
Unknown Speaker 39:26
everybody to go, Well, this sounds creepy. She is so far from that. She just has a love, and thank God she does. Yes. Well, I'm going to just share the last super surprising moment for me, and I'm glad it was one of the last things that we did too, because the joy I experienced in the backyard was, like, indescribable. You guys, the swing set, and by golly, it was actually cemented into the ground. We didn't have to worry about if it was, if we were gonna, like, get it to come, bring it out of the ground. We were afraid of that. Yeah, swinging.
Unknown Speaker 40:00
Swung, and other people swung again. My fun watching other people have so much fun also is super joy, bringing to me so that I was having that experience. And you guys the teeter totter. On the teeter totter, I thought I was gonna wet my pants. I was laughing so hard. It was it was so funny, and it brought back all those memories of teeter tottering like, you know, I was on with Kristen, and it was like, Oh, do I just leave her suspending mid air? You guys. I know I shared some of that, the clips of that video in the real but what you don't hear. And so I am going to share some of these video clips of Kristen saying the fairy print theft and limping my one of my very favorite memories was the three of us, Carolyn and Kristen, on the swings. I'm still on the seesaw. I was not getting off that seesaw. No teeter totter. You guys know the one that's connected to the swing set. And we all just start singing, Sunshine day. And it was just so pure and fun. And you guys, the astroturf is over our feet, tigers, dog houses next to us. It was and there was a bar in the backyard where they had two house drinks called Sunshine day and George glass. Carolyn and I might have had two George glasses, so that would have been what prompted the sunshine day, but I don't think so. I think that's just who we are, naturally. Yeah, it's true. We don't need alcohol to be ridiculously giddy and tap into our child's selves. We really don't. Yeah, I live my life that way.
Unknown Speaker 41:36
So we have just shared with you all some of our favorite moments from our experience at the Brady Bunch house and some of our favorite items that we saw. And that was something that I wanted to talk to Susie about. I wanted to talk to her about what her favorite items were and what her experience has been like curating this beautiful replica of the Brady Bunch home. So I'm so excited to share with you guys my conversation with Susie.
Unknown Speaker 42:10
There were so many wonderful moments and so many memories from our visit to the Brady Bunch house. But I've got to say Susie that honestly, those perfectly placed, small, almost intimate. That's how I describe those details as intimate. That's what made the experience extraordinary. For us, the items that you so carefully curated, they really elevate this whole experience. It's almost surreal. It's honestly like we were sucked into the television set, directly into an episode of The Brady Bunch. And for me, I think the moment that really hit me happened when we stepped into the girls room and I spotted that iconic yellow folder on the desk. Tell me about the yellow folder, please.
Unknown Speaker 42:54
That's one of our favorite things in the house, and it's clearly not an expensive item, right? It's a piece of paper and a yellow folder. I did have to find the right kind of folder, not like a plastic folder or anything. It had to be like an old school composition folder that's from sisters shadow, the Marsha Marsha Marsha episode. So the other thing that makes it special is that I've tried to incorporate other people in the house, especially huge Brady fans.
Unknown Speaker 43:25
There is a Brady super fan named Jen, and she probably has every single episode script memorized. If you give her two words, she'll fill in the rest of the episode around. So I said Jen's dedication. This is what I want to put on the desk in the girls room. And I've got the idea I need the essay. The essay is what America means to me. That's Jan's essay. So I need an essay. Do you want to be the one to write the essay? And she she said, of course, but that she talked about it with her teenage son, who watched the Brady Bunch with her, and he said, Do you want me to be the one to write it? So it sounds like a kid wrote
Unknown Speaker 44:11
it. It is typed on an old school typewriter. So there's several typewriters on the Brady Bunch. I could list them all for you. I could tell you the several typewriters scoop. Brady uses a gray one, and Carolyn uses a gray one when she's typing for the article in the tell it like it is episode, and Jan uses a gray one when she's typing her most popular girl speech. And
Unknown Speaker 44:35
so let's just stop for a second. I'm just gonna digress. Listeners, did you hear that? Okay, Susie knows all of this, and it is, it's evident and the way she has curated this home, and it's the respect also that you have for the items, the episodes, really the whole show, and what it means to people. And honestly, it is magical when you enter that home and see special things that you.
Unknown Speaker 45:00
Thank you. A lot of thought goes into it. It really does. Part of the magic is like, truly, you stepped into an episode like you stepped into the TV show. It gives that feel of like we never left, like this has just been sitting here waiting like Peter was just there. Peter was just scoop. Brady was just sitting there. He wrote the whole truth by scoop Brady. That's exactly the feeling. This is like they just left the room or walked out the back door to go somewhere, like they were just there. I love that. My little idea is that the House includes at least one visual reference or Easter egg item of some sort from each of the 117
Unknown Speaker 45:41
original branded bunch episodes. Could be an object, like the vase that Peter breaks. It could be something huge, like the dunking booth.
Unknown Speaker 45:49
Could be something small as the title of a book on the shelf. Well, so what do you have a little checklist? I thought you're not going but I don't, because you get on that,
Unknown Speaker 46:01
but it's a lot. I did count the other day just how many items big or big or small have come into the house in the past year. And I stopped counting at 102 that's like the cars, the dunking booth.
Unknown Speaker 46:17
You know, tiger, the giraffe, the goat. I have a lot of my handiwork in the house. So what are some of the cool things in that home that are made by Susie? Oh, fun. Okay, these are little things in my head that I decide we need. I decided that we should have a fairy princess dress, and I don't know why that dress is shown for maybe one minute in one episode of one season, but I just think it's really cute with Cindy with the little wings and it's pink. Oh yes. Well, it is perfect. Thank you. The joy that the three of us, Kristen and Michelle and I, got from that fairy princess dress and watching Kristen be become Cindy for a few minutes there. I mean, it was just perfection. Yeah, these little things like the folder or whatever. You don't know if people are going to remember, but when they do that rush that comes to them, and then that joy is just infectious. So we love that fairy princess dress. Thank you. There's there's a few things like, there's a custom, custom made giraffe, custom made Tiger, and then the goat. We spent a lot of time trying to get just the right height for the goat, if I'm Greg, and I missed all the goat comes up to here, is that the right height? And then we wanted the cape as well. It's red, oh yeah, with gold letters, and it looks like, like a varsity jacket. Sorry, I was probably up till two in the morning, like measuring and stitching and sewing and cutting things and and it took, like a weekend to make it all and that's what's on Raquel right now. I cannot believe the attention to detail and the effort. This is a true passion project. If someone wants to know what the definition of a passion project is. Talk to Susie and Tina, because they are living it. It's not like you're making a big profit off of this. You're not in it for the money or prestige or stature or anything fame. It's because you'd recognize how important this program and this home was to a generation of people, and you honor that. And it's it comes through with flying colors. Oh, thank you. Speaking of flying colors, what color would you say are the architect tubes on Mike's desk? I'm gonna say they're yellow. You are of the yellow camp. That's interesting. On real Brady rose podcast, they called them yellow. My whole life. I've said they're orange, but they really do have to be the right color, right because you remember them. They run around the amusement park with the cylinder tubes. Greg has a job. He's carrying one of them, and the end falls off and the plans fall out. And Mike comes home from work several times and he's carrying one of those tubes. So they really have to be the right color, and they have to have the end that slides off. It can't be the plastic cap that snaps on. So, okay, no, it can't be a 2024, cylinder tube. So I finally found the right color in true Susie fashion, they're not empty, as you know, there's, Oh, that's right stuff inside, yeah, we got to peek inside. And that is exactly right. In true Susie fashion, we need to come up with, like things that were Susie fied or something,
Unknown Speaker 49:31
yes, again, makes it so incredibly special. My epic card house. Oh yes. Let's talk about the epic card house. I call that the Go big or go home card house. We were just thinking, like, it'd be good to have a card house from but it's really again, one episode, yeah, but it's a memorable episode, I agree. And I counted the number of cards across and the number of levels high, and I had some foam custom cut so I could build all the.
Unknown Speaker 50:00
Yards around it. If you look at that top level, it has 1969 because the show started in 1969 it has 1974 because it ended in 1974 it has 4222, because the Brady lived at 4222, Clinton way, little things like that. Yeah. Well, that's what makes it so fun. It's almost like this little scavenger hunt, or like you were saying before, Easter eggs that you're not expecting, and then you can almost second guess yourself. You're like, Oh, is that 1969 and then you're like, well, 1974 Well, that's their address. I mean, you just it's fun. It's like a little game too, that just with little like sparks of delight throughout, not expecting anyone could just walk through and feel like they're in the Brady Bunch. And then a super fan can walk through and squeeze their eyes and go, there's the pay phone from the pay phone episode. They can look at the books on the shelf in the family room, because I did a whole shelf of books, and say, Oh, Anthony and Cleopatra, Romeo and Juliet, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. There's Red Cross books, because Jan is studying first aid in the Joe Namath episode. My favorite book on that shelf is the real Benedict Arnold,
Unknown Speaker 51:11
because Peter had to play Benedict Arnold, of course, right, but that was, that was harsh words on the Brady Bunch if they called you Benedict Arnold, which they did, that was their little insult to each other. Once in a while, like there were many references on the Brady Bunch to real life people, right? References, Sunny and Cher The Beatles, The carpenters, the fifth dimension, Bob Hope, Dean Martin, Dustin, Hoffman, they reference, they say, all those names on the show. So the Bradys were in a world where those things really existed. However, Benedict Arnold got the most shout outs.
Unknown Speaker 51:46
We loved the books in Alice's room. Can you tell us a little bit about those? So there is, there's a book on Alice's nightstand, and it is all my loves, which is like a romance novel that she's reading in the big sprain, right? She sprains her ankle, and she's in bed, and all the kids come in to visit her, and she's reading this book. It has a red cover with a yellow design on it and white letters all my love by penny Dunbar. We had that cover made, and then I got another collection of time period appropriate romance novels that are on Alice's dresser in a nice little stack there. And then there's a few things that are like a fan fiction item, almost, where the My Favorite opponent episode, the Molly Webber episode, Marcia
Unknown Speaker 52:34
takes Molly Weber, her classmate under her wing, and teaches her to stand up straight, gives a little makeover. And then they're going to be the senior night banquet hostess, co hostesses together.
Unknown Speaker 52:46
So what would be a good easter egg for that episode in the girls room, they have the bulletin board with papers and stuff stuck all over it. Every single one of those is an Easter egg in the house, and one of them is a really cool kind of flowery card with a thank you note from Molly Webber to Marcia, and it has a little picture inside as well. And it's saying thank you for all your help. And it's written by Debbie storm, the actress who played Molly Webber.
Unknown Speaker 53:14
She wrote it and mailed it to me. Isn't that cute? Jaw on the floor again, jaw on the floor.
Unknown Speaker 53:20
I think the most sort of special, unique, one of a kind irreplaceable, no one else could ever have it. Item is a sleeping bag that is used in the Slumber Party episode with the itching powder. Remember the sleeping bag? And it is Jenny wilton's sleeping bag, and Jenny is played by Sherwood Schwartz's daughter, hope and hope, and her daughters and her granddaughters came to tour the house. When she got there that day, she said, I have a gift here that you can keep at the house. And it's this red sleeping bag, and it has daisies, and it says, Love me, love me, not all over it. And it is the sleeping bag that she had for filming that episode. She brought it from she brought it from home when they filmed the episode, and then she brought it for us to have at the house. It looks so good in that room. It makes it, it makes it extra special. If I had to pick the thing that I probably thought was the coolest in the kitchen, everybody there is on the paper towel holder a roll of green paper towels. Like, remember when we had colored paper towels? Like, this is almost that avocado green. And it's so unusual to like, see paper towels that color now that it was this kind of double take for me, like the paper towels even, like you went that far, and it wasn't like you just could go to Walmart and pick up some paper towels, some paper towels, and dye them green. Like, what? How did you get those? I searched and searched and searched, and you could find vintage paper towels. Sometimes they get a little bit pricey. And.
Unknown Speaker 55:00
I just was resigned to, okay, we're not going to have them. And then I found some. I told Susie that she needs to put some kind of sign up there, because I'm just afraid that someone's going to go like, Oops, my hands are sticky or something. And then they're going to go, like, grab it or wash their hands and think I'm going to grab this paper towel. No, well, tell me, like, what are you looking for? What would be so exciting for you to get right? There's two big things right now, okay, that I can't get my hands on that I want. Okay, one of the one of them is Carolyn's pink Pom Pom penoire robe. So that's one thing I would love to get my hands on. And then the other is, you've seen it a million times. You just don't know it. There's like a cabinet at the bottom of the stairs a red color vase. And next to the red color vase is a blue ceramic object. You never get a good look at it on the show and I have looked at it as closely as possible, and I can tell it is a ram. I believe I have identified the type of RAM, and I know someone who has one, I just have to get her to sell it to okay, they just weren't mass produced 60 years ago. So this is a real thrifting type of situation. So pom pom gown, RAM, and then within the next few weeks, my replicas of Marsha's pom poms should be here. One blue, one, gold, one, two. Tell me, who are you the bears.
Unknown Speaker 56:28
Oh my gosh. My heart right now it's speeding a little faster than it was a few minutes ago. Thank you so much for talking with us and for all that you're doing for Generation X. We are so appreciative. Thank you, and thanks for coming to the house. I'll never forget it.
Unknown Speaker 56:54
Carolyn always says this podcast brings us so many gifts, and I would say for sure, one of them is, if not, the most important are the friendships we've made along the way. And I'm just so, so grateful and happy to know Susie. It's incredible. It's such a great society, and it is. This is a community of like minded people, and we are so lucky to be making the connections that we have, yes, 100% and it was a joy to talk to Susie and just feel her love and passion for her. Her is it is her passion project. It is her passion project. And the things that she that you guys talked about, I mean, that is just a fraction of the items she has curated. So to see photos of of many of these things, make sure you're following Brady experience on Instagram, as well as dilling street on Instagram. And so to wind up our trip in Burbank, California, or Studio City or North Hollywood on dilling Street, we sat down with the owner of the house, Tina, who I of course, just called Tina Brady. And so what we did is, this is going to blow your minds everybody. What you're going to hear in a second is a conversation that we had with Tina Brady, sitting in the kitchen of the Brady Bunch house, in that orange kitchen with the green cabinets with orange countertops, that round table with the mid century atomic chairs, the tulip chairs with the orange leather. No, it's not leather, it's vinyl. Come on, who am I kidding? The plastic chairs. So when you listen to this conversation with Tina, please picture us sitting in that kitchen. Everybody's
Unknown Speaker 58:40
it.
Unknown Speaker 58:45
So, Tina, you were the owner of the Brady Bunch house. You're really like the steward of the Brady Bunch house, right? What was it that made you buy the house? How did that happen? Well, I generally I troll Zillow all the time. That's what I do at night in bed, and all the sudden, I saw a house, and I didn't look at the address or anything, and I saw the staircase with the orange in the background. I said, what? I clicked on it. That's like, Oh my gosh. HGTV is selling the house. I have to have it. Like, that was it. I just said, I need the house. I have to get the house.
Unknown Speaker 59:21
I wasn't thinking,
Unknown Speaker 59:24
why
Unknown Speaker 59:26
do with it? I just said, I have to have it. It was, it was an impulse decision. You just needed it. 1,000% impulse buy. And where do you think that comes from? You clearly are Brady Bunch fan. But what did so, what did having the house mean to you?
Unknown Speaker 59:39
You know what? There was about, about six months after I bought it, I thought to myself, wait, why did I buy this again, dressed for like, about five seconds, because I couldn't imagine not having it. I It was, it was like a bite sized Barbie doll house to me. So I just wanted it, and I didn't think that.
Unknown Speaker 1:00:00
I, you know, I didn't think, Oh, I'm gonna have tours, or I'm gonna, do, you know, Airbnb. I never thought that. I just thought, I don't know what I'm gonna do with it, but I have to have it. I thought that, like, maybe friends of mine that are in Chicago, you know, are coming out. Oh, I want to, Can I switch down, see the Brady house or, you know, or something like that. And people would just get joy out of it.
Unknown Speaker 1:00:22
You know, I will say, though we were talking last night about what you're doing with your now life size Barbie house is very similar to the whole reason the why we started this podcast. Your house is bringing connection and joy to generate not just Gen X, but to all the subsequent generations that loved the Brady Bunch. I know there's no way that I can let you know the public and because I, gosh, I'm very paranoid about everything in the house protected, right? Yeah, these two dueling things, because you it sounds like you really wanted to share it with people, but you also want to protect it, right? And I don't know how to share it with people, because I also can't leave people unattended, because if they drop a meatball, or
Unknown Speaker 1:01:12
if someone's drinking a Diet Coke, they spill it on the sofa, I can only put those cushions one time. So pressure is immense. It's immense, and I wish I could share this on a mass scale, but I don't know how that's possible. But you know what else is interesting too, is that's where the big problem is with this. I was talking to verbo, and they were like, well, you can charge whatever you want a night. So you can have, like, add ons, like, you go for a ride in the car, have Peter Brady knock on the door, do all this stuff, and, like, they could pay extra for that. And I was like, I can't have anyone else understand that. They just know. And it was like, Yeah, name your price. But I was like, I there's no price. No, yeah, I could make it expensive, and then, you know, people could all go in and spend the night. It'd be really expensive, but then it's out of reach for too many people, yeah? And I don't, I'm concerned about House control, and you can't, like, you said, it's a museum. Yeah. Do you want people sleeping in those beds,
Unknown Speaker 1:02:04
brushing their teeth and that? No, I couldn't. Even if you served me food right now, I think I'd be like, I'm okay.
Unknown Speaker 1:02:12
I have, I have too much respect for this table to actually eat it. Thank you. But that's the thing. It's like, people are like, Oh, it's like, you read it any have to make it an Airbnb. Make an Airbnb, make an Airbnb at any of the news stories. It's like, I can't. It's really like a conundrum. How do you get let people in the house? So, well, you've got some ideas cooking, and it's funny, I, what I've done a lot is I'll donate a tour of the house to charity for like, a bidding, like an audience, so smart. And, you know, Christopher Knight,
Unknown Speaker 1:02:41
yeah, one tour of Susan Olson
Unknown Speaker 1:02:46
gave a tour, you know, so bright Brady's, oh God,
Unknown Speaker 1:02:51
another tour of one coming up. So, you know, people bid on it, and then the charity makes a lot of money for that, which is amazing. I think that what you're doing is, it's really just like, so benevolent. It sounds like there's a learning curve and how to share it with the people it's important to because you need to protect the legacy. And that's I really respect that, because I walk around this place like in tip toes, because I'm afraid of disturbing the legacy, because you curated it so carefully. And so I want to ask you, because of the curation, because of the attention to detail, tell us about your relationship with Susie.
Unknown Speaker 1:03:27
Susie,
Unknown Speaker 1:03:30
so it's really funny. So the first day HGTV, like, lost the keys or something, and they're like, oh, we need to send a locksmith. And the locksmith was in the house changing the locks. And there's these two, like decorative, like rectangle things around the knob. Yeah. So he was changing that box, changing all blocks, so he had taken it off, to take north door knob off, and literally, he just got there. And my realtor gets an email with someone wrote one of the decorative places
Unknown Speaker 1:04:01
remove, and then she sent a picture and an arrow in a circle,
Unknown Speaker 1:04:07
while the last month was still there. Oh my gosh.
Unknown Speaker 1:04:11
And she's like, someone drove by and you're like, defacing the house. I go, the last month is still there.
Unknown Speaker 1:04:18
That's how quickly Susie was on it, someone had changed something. So I was like, my gosh, is this going to be my
Unknown Speaker 1:04:27
life?
Unknown Speaker 1:04:30
And so there's like, baby. Two days after that, there's this woman out standing outside the house with the dog, and someone else was talking to I still had HGTV security at that point, so someone else was speaking to her for a while, and then I happen to walk outside, and she's like, Hi, I'm Susie. I didn't know she was the girl with the arrow in the Yeah. And the whole thing started, he's like, did they leave this one, you know, chair in the family room? And I was like, I don't know, you know. So I walked in there. She's like, I was not there. She's like, a fish on the wall. And I'm like, Oh. She's like, No, they're not there. Like, I didn't realize what.
Unknown Speaker 1:05:00
Left and didn't leave. You know, I wasn't paying attention. And this had been, like, I had house for like, six months at that point. And then she's like, What about the grapes? Did they leave the grapes? So then she started coming, and she's like, okay, yeah, this isn't here. This isn't here. Pretty soon, I just gave her a key to the house, because I was like, Well, if you're this big of a fan, you need a key to the house. And then I start, I started going on, like, Wikipedia, and, like, they have a summary of all 117 episodes, which I now know there were 117
Unknown Speaker 1:05:27
and so I like from each one, like, Okay, we need this. We need this. We need this. You know, we need the soap box. We just looked for everything. Like, to me, she was your go to person. You'd say, we need this, the detergent box. And Susie would like try and source it for you. Was Susie knows a lot of people that, like, can do graphic arts and stuff. She said she'll be like, Oh, it cost this X, you know, should I do it? I'm like, really, you know? I'm like, Yes, you know. Well, you guys have done such a good job. I keep saying, when Susie first told us that she had met the person who bought the Brady house, and we were like, Oh my gosh. But we were like, so excited for Susie getting to live this dream. And I keep saying she's basically become the curator of this museum. I mean, for example, the car out front that sits there and then that you found the car, and that Susie made the license plate that says 1971 on it is unbelievable car. There's two cars out there. Their parks in out front. Just heightens the experience of this house, just like all these little easter eggs that the two of you together have thought of and that Susie's created or found, I think the universe is at work that put you two in each other's orbit. It's like your Brady sisters were Brady we have spent, you know, luckily, like it, she doesn't have a lot of time on her hands when she has a full time you know what? I mean, yeah, so she has spent a lot of time outside of her full time job, doing things like that. You know, which she loves everyone are you having? I mean, this just sounds like a labor of love, but you're just like, it's such a gas. You might be having so much. What's fun about it? It's just like, you know that sandstone French base that's in the
Unknown Speaker 1:07:11
like, when I when that came up online, I was
Unknown Speaker 1:07:17
like, because we couldn't find out, I was like, Oh my gosh, it's in France. I have to get, I have to get, I have to get it. And then, like, the yellow cat, like things like that. And by the way, to find the cars I got it, like this auction. I've never got an auction on a car. I had to register. I didn't know what I was doing. It's just been like, I wonder what I was doing before I was doing, yeah, what are we doing that all the time?
Unknown Speaker 1:07:40
It's like, what was I doing with all these hours in the day that I've spent trying to find these things? You know? So it's kind of fun, but, you know, I just, I'm going to circle back to it and how you just said it's a labor of love, you know, you a lot of people might be like, Oh, this is just a hobby for you. It's not the time and the effort and the passion you're putting into this is paying off tremendously. In the joy you're bringing others, the gratitude that people feel, because I know like for us, that's the most fulfilling part of our job, but it's the details, or finding the exact coffee mugs. It's not just like, This is my silly hobby. This is my silly doll house. You're bringing so much joy to people. And maybe it's people that are in going through a hard time, and they win something in a charity, and they come here, it makes a difference in people's lives. It seems like it's making you so happy to I mean, we talked about the other people, you're like, glowing and excited, like in the whole world that could have gotten this house and had the wherewithal to just find the things. It's like you were a needle in a haystack and you got it and you're doing this. Can I tell you about that story real quick? Yes. So, as you know, probably HGTV listed for 5.5 which it's like, how do you value this? Right? Like you know, you don't know how to value it, but as if your value in his real estate, well, you know, okay, the fireplace don't work. The kitchen doesn't work. You know, basically, if, if it were a house, it would be like a gut renovation, like the bathroom, like you right? But that's not what this is. You know, it's piece of art. So, and then it's like, okay, so how do you value it? So I from like, the first day, my realtor said, Tina's your buyer. We just aren't sure about the price. If anyone makes an offer, let us know we're going to beat it, right? So literally, two months went by at one offer. So no one in the world wanted this house. No one great story, because it shows the conundrum of this house. It was really, I would have paid 5.5 but my realtor was like, You are not
Unknown Speaker 1:09:50
so anyway. So that's how that happened. Like it was like to be, well, nobody was gonna wanted to face it. Either it's like, if you bought it, who was going to be the person that knocked something down, or what?
Unknown Speaker 1:10:00
Ever. So imagine you only feel to like you said. It's so serendipitous, because who had a passion for you making it better, like I don't want to just buy it, and then just, what do I do with it? So you had this plan, this passion, and then Susie happens to live here. You happen to become friends with Susie, someone who cared about it as much as you meant to be. It's so great what you're doing with this. You said yesterday on our little Instagram Live, it's our Gen X capital like our Capitol building. This is our Capitol building, yeah, and it truly is, and you are. You're saving it for us. It's so great what you're doing with this, you know, gift that you are giving all of us, and we're so excited to be able to share some of those things. I think everybody in America, whether you're Jay Z or whoever you are, you watch this show after school.
Unknown Speaker 1:11:00
Bob Ross the painter, Victor garden, yeah, and Brady Bunch. And by the way, no one didn't like it. No one was like, oh my god, I hate that show. I mean, everybody loved it. It's like, good values, you know, it's just such a like, wholesome, yes show. Every single person in America, whether you know, either way, they have nostalgia about the Brady and it's never gonna happen again, and you are preserving the one monument to the one thing that was beloved by Literally all people.
Unknown Speaker 1:11:41
I really hope that through that conversation, all of you listening really got a sense of just the love and respect that Tina has for this house and just how really, like you said earlier, Carolyn, how altruistic she is with this whole project. Because I just feel like we should all be so grateful. Yes, we should. Yeah, thank you, Tina. Thank you so much. And at the beginning of the episode, you guys might remember that we teased, there might be a way that you would be able to get the same opportunity. And a lot of people have been asking us since we've been posting that we that we got, posting our photos and everything, saying, can we sleep over there? Could we have a party there? Are they going to open it like a museum? Oh, they should make it an Airbnb, right? And after being there, especially, we're kind of like, but I think it's not to be right. It's not to be it's not possible. And when that's kind of what Tina found out when she bought this house, is that you can't just open the doors and let people come in because they might trash it. And what you have here is a work of art. You heard in the interview, she regards this house as a work of art. And if you just open the doors and let crowds in without having them be policed in any way, this work of art could literally be destroyed. And so she was faced with this conundrum of, what do I do? I bought this house to share it with the public. This is, it is a museum of sorts of our childhood, and so it has to be respected and revered in that way. And what I like is because they're not letting throngs of people in. You don't have to have those velvet ropes like coordinating authorities, like we got to really experience and walk through and touch. I mean, you're encouraged to lift up things and look at them, as long as, again, you're respectful, and they've got security and Susie's right there to say, be careful. Or, you know, but I with these smaller groups going through you also, like we've just said, We tiptoed, we realized how special this place was, and you can't help but be respectful. And that's something that Tina just in all of her conversations we had with her, respect is just the thing that keeps coming to my mind, how much she respects this legacy of this home. Yeah, and she did sort of have a conundrum, but how can I let as many Brady fans as possible enjoy this? So besides obvious like silent auction, you know, entries and things like that, she is going to be having a sweepstakes, and this is a way that you and a guest. Maybe it's like your sister, that you watch the Brady Bunch with all the time, or your brother or your best friend that you bonded over with. I mean, who knows your mom, but this is a way that you and a guest you can perhaps get to tour the house. Meet some of the Brady kids. Oh, my God, let me say that again. Meet some of the Brady kids, Greg Peter and enjoy pork chops and apple sauce,
Unknown Speaker 1:14:44
not even kidding, served by their very own Alice in the backyard. Food will always be served in the backyard. Here's how you do it. Everyone, just go to this website, the Brady experience.com
Unknown Speaker 1:14:57
to enter the sweepstakes for.
Unknown Speaker 1:15:00
A chance to win all of this. You will get brunch with original cast members from The Brady Bunch television show at the house. You will get pork chops and applesauce, like I said, served by I'm using air quotes, Alice, because sadly, Andy Davis is no longer with us. You will have an exclusive tour of the house, much like we just got and if you look at our pictures, you can see what what that entails. Are you guys ready for this included? If you win, are round trip flights. Your airfare is included, your hotel accommodations are included. Ground Transportation is included, and your meals for the time you are there are included. People's minds are exploding right now, right? My mind is exploding. Are we? Are we eligible? Yeah. Are we eligible? Probably not. I don't think so, excluding the pop culture Preservation Society. But listen, listeners, you can enter again. Go to the website, the Brady experience. That's all one word.com,
Unknown Speaker 1:16:00
and you can enter by purchasing a set of exclusive photo postcards of the house on the website, with a portion of each of those sales benefiting No Kid Hungry. There is also no purchase to enter. So read the fine print, and you can find out where to send just a postcard to enter if you choose to go that route. But also, I mean, come on, you get these great postcards of of what the house, what they've done with the house, and it's benefiting No Kid Hungry, you can enter now. It's open, open. Now through January 31 that website again, the Brady experience.com,
Unknown Speaker 1:16:34
and as always, we will have all this information look in the show notes. Or if you are a Weekly Reader, subscriber, it will, of course, be there as well, and your dreams can actually come true. Crossing fingers for all of you, I am crossing fingers for all of you. I just think it's so cool. And it's not just one winner. They're gonna pick five winners. So you have a really good chance. And the more postcards you buy, I think the more chances you get, but five guests and then their guests. So five winners, I should say, plus their guests. I just think that's such a cool part of it that they're going to say you can bring your your Brady bestie. And don't forget that the the portion of the proceeds go to No Kid Hungry. Yes, very important. And all of that is found on the website. Yeah, yes. So I don't have any real statistics at my fingertips, but what I do know is that since september of 1969
Unknown Speaker 1:17:22
The Brady Bunch has never gone off the air for decades. It was a staple in after school programming in every market across the nation.
Unknown Speaker 1:17:35
I mean, think about that. Was there any other show that was on in so many markets for so long every single day, can't imagine. And then, when the after school era ended, the Nick at Night era was upon us, and people who had grown up with the Bradys were now watching it at night with their millennial children. And as of this recording, 50 years after the last episode was filmed, cable stations like me TV and get TV and cozy, they keep the Brady Bunch at the forefront of nostalgic programming. I think it's possible that the Brady Bunch is the most watched TV show in history just by its sheer availability over time. Brady is just a math problem, and that will never happen again. I mean, think about it, which of today's TV shows will be in daily rotation 50 years from now? Right? That people want to watch, that people actually want to watch, the Brady Bunch. It might just be the Brady Bunch, and that's it. So it's no wonder that this house has lodged itself into our generational psyche. It's like Gen X wouldn't even exist without it. It is our house. It's our generational capital, and now, thanks to pop culture preservationists like Tina and Susie, that monument is being protected. The legacy will be preserved, and the constituents of Brady land, they can celebrate it and hopefully witness it in person, in perpetuity. Thank you for listening today, and we'll see you next time.
Unknown Speaker 1:19:03
Today's episode was brought to you by our wonderful supporters on Patreon, like Susie, who is one of our wonderful supporters on Patreon, who we couldn't do any of this without, honestly, they are what keep this whole thing trucking. And today we are giving a special thank you to these patrons. You guys grab a snack because here we go. I just you guys were so grateful to our patrons. This is only a very small portion of them. Here we go. Mary Beth Steven, Christina, Linda Jill, Kathleen mark, Erica, Rosarita, MP Robin, Cheryl, Mel, Stephanie, Colleen, Darby, Melissa, Julie, Melissa, Gail, Nina, Jennifer, Lisa, J, s, Stella, Tracy and drum roll please for Mike,
Unknown Speaker 1:19:55
I'm surprised we don't have more mics right in the.
Unknown Speaker 1:20:00
Meantime, let's raise our glasses for a toast courtesy of the cast of Threes Company, two good times, two Happy Days, Two Little House on the Prairie. Cheers, cheers, everyone. The information, opinions and comments expressed on the pop culture Preservation Society podcast belong solely to Carolyn the crushologist and hello Newman, and are in no way representative of our employers or affiliates, and though we truly believe we are always right, there is always a first time the PCPs is written, produced and recorded in Minneapolis, Minnesota, home of the fictional wjm studios and our beloved Mary, Richards. Nanu. Nanu, keep on truckin, and May the Force Be With You. You.