Utahn, a Brady Bunch star, helps HGTV reshape the famous Brady House

Utahn Mike Lookinland starred in Bobby's "The Brady Bunch," but he never went near the familiar home for fans since Brady's home.

He and the rest of the cast have never shot a second of film in the real house, which has only been used in outside shots. Lookinland did not see her in person until long after the end of the five-year "Brady Bunch" series in 1974.

In 1990, CBS produced a short drama called "The Bradys" in which Lookinland resumed his role as Bobby. His wife was performed by Martha Quinn (one of the original VJs at the first MTV broadcast in 1981).

"Somehow, Martha discovered that I did not even know where this house was," said Lookinland in an interview with The Salt Lake Tribune. "She said," Get in the car. "

Quinn drove Lookinland 11 kilometers from Hollywood's Paramount Studios complex to Studio City's house "because she goes every time she travels to Los Angeles and takes her friends," she says. he laughs. "She could not bear the thought of me not knowing where he was."

As the 50th anniversary of the premiere of the show nears, Lookinland and his television brothers and sisters roll up their sleeves for "A Very Brady Renovation," a HGTV project aimed at giving the interior of the real house seen in the original series (and several suites) TVs – which looked nothing like it.

"The outside of this house can not be so inward," said Lookinland.

It was a one-story house – so no iconic staircase, no upstairs bedroom and windows that the public saw at the top left of the house (as you face it) were not real. Barry Williams (Greg) stated that he had been invited to lunch and that he had no idea where he was.

"They had to take me outside to watch the [angle] that we saw on television that I could make the connection, because the inside did not look like it at all, "he said.

Last year, the house was put on the market and HGTV bought it for what Williams called "stupid" amount of money – $ 3.5 million. HGTV then spent huge sums to add more than 2,000 square feet, almost doubling its size. And all the details of the set were reproduced, from architecture to furniture to fabrics, bead curtains in Greg's groovy attic to Tiger's kennel in the back.

"They actually projected a picture of the stone in the living room on the blank wall so that they could exactly match the size, shape and color of the stones," Lookinland said.

The four-part series will air on Monday on HGTV (19h Dish and DirecTV, 22h Comcast). It ends September 30 – a day after the 50th anniversary of the premiere of "The Brady Bunch" on ABC.

The six original Brady children – Lookinland, Williams, Christopher Knight (Peter), Maureen McCormick (Marcia), Eve Plumb (Jan) and Susan Olsen (Cindy) – joined the project. They all teamed up with HGTV hosts to renovate / renovate / build / decorate a part of the house; Lookinland ended up working with Jasmine Roth ("Hidden Potential") to create the Brady rooms.

"You just thought the master bedroom was given to me because it's the only one that was not taken," Lookinland told his siblings on TV. "By the way, it's turned out to be the best."

Actors who played Brady parents and their housekeeper all died – Robert Reed in 1992, Florence Henderson in 2016 and Ann B. Davis in 2014. But Williams said surviving cast members could "feel their presence" … in these rooms. "

"And they would have loved it," said Lookinland.

When the idea was launched, Lookinland had two reactions. "I said," You are crazy. "And I said:" It's probably the best idea I've heard for a very long time. "

When the house went on sale, he received dozens of texts "because Americans care what happens to this place". All members of the cast had similar stories and all said that they were asked if they wanted to buy the place themselves; Only McCormick said that she was interested.

Olsen, on the other hand, never thought about it. "I thought," No, why would I want to live in a house where fans are often present? "(According to HGTV, this is the second most photographed house in America after the White House.)" But I feared that the ball of destruction would come to him. would be a bit like destroying the American family. "

Do not worry. Now, home is what millions of fans have always thought it was.

"I would have liked to be more involved in building and building this show," said Lookinland, who is familiar with home renovations.

"My wife and I own a few houses – mostly in Millcreek," said the Salt Lake Valley resident. "When they need to work, we do not call a painter, the floor attendant, or the concrete. We go out and do what we can ourselves. "

Lookinland was a Californian kid, also from Utah, sort of by accident. His grandparents lived here – his grandfather was the LDS hospital administrator – and his parents were visiting the family in Spring City for the holidays in 1960.

"I was due around Christmas. My parents came to visit and I was born during the Christmas holidays in Mount Pleasant, "said Lookinland.

The family returned to Los Angeles, where Lookinland started playing in commercials at the age of 7 and was performed by Bobby Brady at the age of 8. He moved to the state where he was born "because of his family roots and his desire to get out of LA when I graduated from high school. "

"Salt Lake, for me, was a kind of known quantity," said Lookinland. "In 1978, it was pretty sweet and I liked that. In addition, Snowbird was my favorite ski resort. That's always. That's how I raised the stakes and moved to Utah when I was 17 years old. I have been there permanently since I was around 20 years old. "

He worked on film crews as a cameraman for about 20 years and acted from time to time, mostly in Brady-related projects, "but I have not really been in the film industry for a very long time."

When he presented a project that seemed interesting, he "called one of the cast members, my brothers and sisters, and said to me," Hey, can I borrow your agent for this job? " ". But these were occasional concerts. Lookinland has embarked on business for itself.

"We were plugging my concrete company hard enough. And halfway through, I thought, "Dude, I do not know, because what I really want is to retire," he laughs. "Now it's going to explode."

HGTV executives say they are "developing plans" for the house, but they do not say what these plans are. You will have to just watch all this on TV because the house is in a residential area that is not zoned for business and can not be opened as a tourist attraction.

But, as far as Lookinland is concerned, "A Very Brady Renovation" reflects the spirit of the original series.

"I think the whole Brady theme that is at the heart of the show – the good impression the show has had – is the good heart and feel that HGTV brings to all of their shows," he said. -he declares.