HGTV Paid Nearly Double the Listing Price for ‘Brady Bunch’ House

HGTV wanted to own the home that appeared in The Brady Bunch so badly that the Discovery-owned network reportedly paid almost double the original asking price.

The North Hollywood home went on the market in July, with the listing price of $1.88 million. It was the first time the home had been put on the market since George and Violet McCallister, whose children put the house up for sale, bought it in 1973 for $61,000.

The sale caught international attention, and a bidding war ensued between *NSYNC singer Lance Bass and HGTV. Bass put in a $3 million bid, but HGTV wanted it even more. Insiders told Forbes that HGTV paid paid $3.5 million, almost double the original listing price

“As soon as the home came on the market, HGTV wanted it. We created a war room, strategizing on the best approach to get the property. I worked directly with Marc Graboff, president, global and legal affairs at Discovery Inc. [which owns HGTV], and the law firm of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher,” Danny Brown, real estate agent and partner at The Agency in Beverly Hills, California, told Forbes.

According to Forbes, Graboff wanted the home so much that he personally flew from Colorado to see it.
When HGTV secured the home, they agreed to pay with all cash and asked for a no-contingencies contract.

“Our attorneys reviewed all the title documents and disclosures prior to writing our offer,” Brown said.

The whirlwind process took about three weeks. The first showing for the house was on July 30, the final offer came in on Aug. 3 and HGTV closed on Aug. 11.

The bidding war boiled down to just Bass and HGTV at one point. Brown said there was also a “high-profile actress” interested in the home.

As for why HGTV wanted the home, the answer is pretty obvious. As Brown said in lawyer-terms, “The potential revenue streams and the branding opportunities for the network were obvious.”

HGTV is reportedly planning to expand the house, which was described as being stuck in a 1970s “time warp.” The next step will be to turn the process into a TV show, and production is already underway.

While fans of the series might be excited, residents of the neighborhood are not that enthusiastic. HGTV plans to expand the 2,500 square feet home to 6,000 square feet, turning the normally quiet neighborhood into a construction site. The home sits on a 12,500 square foot lot, so there is plenty of room to expand.

The Brady Bunch originally ran from 1969 to 1974, and the home was used for the outdoor shots of the Bradys’ home.

Photo credit: Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images