House: Facts and theories

[Rich3]

My theory about the house where the show was filmed, is that it is/was located inside a studio warehouse, and it was a real 2 story house (not the residential split level home shown in opening shots), and may still exist today. I also think that Sherwood Schwartz has requested the actors and crew to remain silent about the reality of the house and to propogate the conspiracy that the sets were temporarily set up. But to me the house just looks too real to be temporary sets.

One scene showed Mike and Carol in their bedroom with Mike opening up a glass door in their room to let in fresh air. This means that some kind of patio or terrace balcony must have been outside their bedroom, probably overlooking the backyard patio, which is really sort of on the side of the house. The mysterious doors shown around the perimeter of the parents' bedroom may have been accessways to the terrace, if not simply closets.

Alice's bedroom is the mysterious thing. I believe it was located on the other side of the little family room adjacent to the kitchen. However, it was shown in separate episodes opening to both a hallway and to the laundry room.

Does anyone else have their own theories or any other facts I haven't mentioned?

[Vegas Girl]

It sure looked like a real house to me, too.

[Ireneparalegal]

Originally Posted by Rich3

My theory about the house where the show was filmed, is that it is/was located inside a studio warehouse, and it was a real 2 story house (not the residential split level home shown in opening shots), and may still exist today. I also think that Sherwood Schwartz has requested the actors and crew to remain silent about the reality of the house and to propogate the conspiracy that the sets were temporarily set up. But to me the house just looks too real to be temporary sets.

One scene showed Mike and Carol in their bedroom with Mike opening up a glass door in their room to let in fresh air. This means that some kind of patio or terrace balcony must have been outside their bedroom, probably overlooking the backyard patio, which is really sort of on the side of the house. The mysterious doors shown around the perimeter of the parents' bedroom may have been accessways to the terrace, if not simply closets.

Alice's bedroom is the mysterious thing. I believe it was located on the other side of the little family room adjacent to the kitchen. However, it was shown in separate episodes opening to both a hallway and to the laundry room.

Does anyone else have their own theories or any other facts I haven't mentioned?

the exterior of the home that they always showed IS A REAL HOUSE. an elderly couple I believe live there. I think it's studio city, but will have to double check that. The indoor was a stage, as was the garage, driveway, backyard, etc. But that is a real house.

[Ireneparalegal]

I remembered correctly. It is in Studio City. As a matter of fact, my boyfriend, worked as a roofer on a building that was not that far from this house. He told me he had to pass this street ( I didn't believe him). His Boss confirmed that it was true.

http://davidbrady.com/times/latbrady.html


here's another link:
http://www.la.com/attractions/sights...bunchhouse/290

[Rich3]

Irene, thanks for the link. But they never filmed the show inside that house. I'm referring strictly to the stage house.

I believe the stage house was a major construction. And there may have been other aspects to the house that we never saw, that were built but never used in the show, such as the upstairs terrace.

Of course, I could also be wrong about all of this.

[Rich3]

The stage house was used in an early "Happy Days" episode, although poorly disguised.

It was also used in an "X-Files" episode about some guy with a strange power to recreate the house with his mind. I only saw the end of the episode and they used the same interiors, but I don't know how much of the house they showed. I'd like to see it again.

[Ireneparalegal]

Originally Posted by Rich3

Irene, thanks for the link. But they never filmed the show inside that house. I'm referring strictly to the stage house.

I believe the stage house was a major construction. And there may have been other aspects to the house that we never saw, that were built but never used in the show, such as the upstairs terrace.

Of course, I could also be wrong about all of this.

oh yeah, of course the interiors were a stage. They said the stage house would never even "fit" in the real house they showed because the "real" house is small inside. They wouldn't film inside a real house for a sitcom like that. Back in those days you could go to Universal Studios and see all the stages for each different production such as Brady Bunch, Bionic Woman, etc.

[Rich3]

Yes. The upstairs window shown on the front of the real house was fake also. The night shots that showed a light in the upstairs window before an upstairs night scene were created by a window/lamp attachment that was placed on the outside of the house.

The interiors of the stage house were not really that big. The front room was kind of large, but the rest of the downstairs was very narrow compared to a normal sized house.

[Bachu]

I hope this was a gag post. Really.

The house used in the establishing shots was a real house that was one floor.

The house used in the studio had both the upper and lower level on the same level in the studio. The set house did look solid and real but it was supposed to to make you believe in it. Do you think they went into space to film Star Trek?

Look at the episode in the second season where Marcia gets a date with Harvey Klinger. We see her rush through the hall, across the living room and into the kitchen in one shot. To film that they would have had to remove the walls with the patio doors in both the living room and kitchen set. For nearly all kitchen and family room scenes they would have had to remove the fake walls with the patio doors to film.

[Ireneparalegal]

Originally Posted by Bachu

I hope this was a gag post. Really.

The house used in the establishing shots was a real house that was one floor.

The house used in the studio had both the upper and lower level on the same level in the studio. The set house did look solid and real but it was supposed to to make you believe in it. Do you think they went into space to film Star Trek?

Look at the episode in the second season where Marcia gets a date with Harvey Klinger. We see her rush through the hall, across the living room and into the kitchen in one shot. To film that they would have had to remove the walls with the patio doors in both the living room and kitchen set. For nearly all kitchen and family room scenes they would have had to remove the fake walls with the patio doors to film.

Um, I think Rich was asking a good question and putting a real post. We know all that. Just read the initial post again. I know the inside was a set. The outdoor shot of the home is a real home. It is not two-story. Rich knows that. He states that in his post. this was no gag.

As a matter of fact there is an article abt the Brady Bunch House and other tv show locations. I will make a thread abt that in the general sitcoms forum.

[Rich3]

The Christmas movie show the contiguous downstairs set in one scene at the beginning.

What's so hard to believe about a two-story house? If we can send a man to the moon we can build a two story set. It saves ground space. There were many scenes in the series showing the upstairs bedrooms above the backyard.

[Ireneparalegal]

Originally Posted by Rich3

The Christmas movie show the contiguous downstairs set in one scene at the beginning.

What's so hard to believe about a two-story house? If we can send a man to the moon we can build a two story set. It saves ground space. There were many scenes in the series showing the upstairs bedrooms above the backyard.

Yeah, it's not so hard. As a matter of fact, if you look at I love Lucy episodes, they easily went from one room to another with the same camera, or two different cameras without a break. Desi Arnaz invented the three camera device. It used to be ONE Camera. Thanx to him, you have many cameras with many shots, with and without cutting. You could even see the actual walls separated from each set. There was a scene when Lucy went from the baby's room all the way to the kitchen NON-STOP.

Marcia running in from the front door (not the hallway) thru the living room into the kitchen is very easy considering she didn't have to do any sharp turns. It was one long shot.

[Bachu]

Originally Posted by Ireneparalegal

Marcia running in from the front door (not the hallway) thru the living room into the kitchen is very easy considering she didn't have to do any sharp turns. It was one long shot.

To get the wide shot of Marcia running through the house they would have had to move the patio walls.

I always thought that when shows went from room to room but showing the outside of set walls in the process that it distracted from the reality of the show. Could you imagine if they had done that with the boys passing from their room, through the bathroom and into the girls room. Not a good thought. They once did this shot in Sister, Sister when the twins both got a room of their own seperated by a bathroom Brady style.

Although some shows do have sets that have a partial two level structure (none spring to mind though) it would make lighting a problem. Most shows are lit from from above with a couple of lights at floor level.

The Brady Bunch did have some good shots that gave the impression that the house was a real two story house but that is the magic of television.

The episode where Bobby nearly falls from the girls bedroom window is a case in point. For the close ups where the camera looked out through the girls window into the garden I believe that they must have suspended a fake wall above the set. For the wide shots where the window was in the background I believe that they would have had a painted backdrop. The editing/filming of that scene is very good (but then it was directed by Robert Reed).

[Rich3]

Bachu, the "lighting" problem in using real houses is a myth. Most movies and shows are filmed in real houses, unless they are filmed in front of a live audience.

Bachu, I suspect you are a joker yourself and are attempting to use this thread just to create controversy. You have not presented any facts, just unbelievable statements. At least I call my own ideas a theory.

You may want to check the rules of the forum before you continue this violation.

[Ireneparalegal]

Originally Posted by Rich3

Bachu, the "lighting" problem in using real houses is a myth. Most movies and shows are filmed in real houses, unless they are filmed in front of a live audience.

Bachu, I suspect you are a joker yourself and are attempting to use this thread just to create controversy. You have not presented any facts, just unbelievable statements. At least I call my own ideas a theory.

You may want to check the rules of the forum before you continue this violation.

Rich, I couldn't help but think of adult movies as I was reading your post. Mainly because most, if not all, are filmed in actual houses. Anyhoo, I know what you mean abt your thread. Which is why I posted the link that I did. I guess one has to really understand the behind stuff to get a grasp of what is done for a show. Especially nowadays, you can easily fool the audience with so much technical stuff, camera shots, computer editing, etc. It really is amazing. I think I did read somewhere abt the stage home of the Brady's having a "two-story" set for long shots etc.