Why Elmhurst Mansion's Tax Value Plunged

ELMHURST, IL – Several years ago, a grand three-story house was built at 140 Elwood Terrance in Elmhurst.

It is owned by Tina Trahan, who bought "The Brady Bunch" house in Los Angeles last year.

In 2023, the tax-assessed value for the Elmhurst house dropped to $1.8 million, from $2.9 million. At the same time, neighbors' home values went up.

What gives?

After the house was built, York Township Assessor's Office treated it as if it were finished. On the outside, it appeared that way.

Elmhurst native Tina Trahan stands in the doorway of "The Brady Bunch" house in 2023. (Courtesy of Tina Trahan)

But in 2022, Trahan, who grew up in Elmhurst, sent interior photos to the assessor. The home was not done. The stairway was not built. Toilets and sinks were missing. And the house had no certificate of occupancy, the assessor's office said.

Thus, the drop in assessed value.

In an interview, Trahan said the construction began seven years ago. Trahan, who lives in California, said the contractor gave her the impression the project was done. It was not.

The exterior looked fine. But when Trahan walked into the house in fall 2020, she found it was unfinished, she said.

"I was mortified," Trahan said. "The house could not be lived in. It was a shell of a house with all the landscaping."

Trahan said she hired a new contractor, who saved the day. The interior was completed in November, she said.

After a Patch inquiry Thursday, Deputy Assessor Julie Patterson checked with the city of Elmhurst, which she said informed her the home's building permit closed out. But she said the occupancy permit had not been issued.

Trahan released a copy of a lawsuit that she said her attorney filed Thursday in DuPage County Court against the first contractor. The case is not showing up in the court's online system yet.

Trahan said she didn't know about the contractor's lack of work until 2020 because she hadn't been in Elmhurst for a long time.

"I felt like I got kicked in the stomach," Trahan said.

Last year, Trahan paid $3.2 million for the Los Angeles house that appeared in exterior shots in the 1970s sitcom, "The Brady Bunch." That was down from the original price of $5.5 million.

In 2019, the child stars participated in the remodeling of the house on HGTV's "A Very Brady Renovation." The show was filmed on a set, but HGTV renovated the inside of the actual house on Dilling Street to appear as if it were the Brady house, with all the quirks of '70s-style furniture and interior design.