eve-plumb
Here's a story, of a lovely lady -- who made a bunch of money selling her Malibu beach house.
Former child star Eve Plumb, who played Jan on the "Brady Bunch," pocketed $3.9 million by selling the house that she bought for just $55,300 as an 11-year-old in 1969, according to real-estate records.
The buying power of $55,300 in 1969 is worth about $362,609.78 in today's economy, according to the Consumer Price Index, meaning Plumb got more than 10 times her original investment.
The cozy five-room, 600-square-foot cottage off the Pacific Coast Highway comes with a stretch of private shoreline in secluded Escondido Beach.
The house -- where Mom always said you shouldn't play ball inside, unless Joe Namath drops by -- was originally listed for $4.15 million four months ago. Plumb's real-estate agents insisted, though, that the final $3.9 million figure isn't a disappointment.
The buyer hopes to tear down Plumb's cottage and build a new home, designed by the same architects who drew up the Staples Center in downtown Los Angeles. The proposed new structure would be 3,500-square feet with three bedrooms, 2 / bathrooms, a two-car garage, floor-to-ceiling glass walls and retractable "moon roof." But those designs haven't been submitted to local planning officials, so the cottage could still dodge the wrecking ball if new construction plans need to be drawn up.
"This was one of the highest prices ever paid for an undeveloped lot in Malibu, with an existing tear-down home and architectural drawings that were in the very preliminary stages," said Justin Juarez, a spokesman for Plumb's real-estate agents, Deasy Penner & Partners.
Plumb's family never lived full-time at the house, but instead have used it as a vacation home and rental property, her agents said.
Plumb, now 58, played the attention-starved middle child, Jan, in the iconic family sitcom from 1969 to 1974.
She might have uttered the show's most memorable line, "Marcia, Marcia, Marcia," complaining about all the attention given to her pretty, older sister, played by Maureen McCormick. The line was parodied in a Snickers candy bar commercial, shown during the 2015 Super Bowl.
Plumb today divides her time between LA and New York, her real-estate agents said.
She dabbles in art and keeps her foot in Hollywood. Plumb played the auto-shop teacher Mrs. Murdock in Fox's musical production "Grease: Live" earlier this year.