straight out of a cartoon

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If Aqua’s 1997 hit song, Barbie Girl has been replaying endlessly in your head since promotional efforts for Greta Gerwig’s new BARBIE movie have begun, you’re not alone.

It seems like everywhere we turn these days, Barbie’s all-pink world spills into our reality (which sounds weirdly in tune with the movie’s storyline), conjuring Aqua’s lyrics that once had us all singing “I’m a Barbie Girl, in my Barbie world…”

But two lucky people will actually get to step foot in Barbie’s world.

In celebration of the highly anticipated July release of Gerwig’s BARBIE movie, Airbnb is offering two overnight stays at Barbie’s Malibu DreamHouse — though Ken is hosting this time around, so the guests will have to settle on booking Ken’s bedroom instead of Barbie’s.

Photo credit: Hogwash Studio / Joyce Lee via Airbnb

In fact, the whole house has been taken over by Ken, with every space — from his cowboy-themed bedroom to the outdoor disco roller rink — oozing ‘Kenergy’.

Guests will also get the chance to raid Ken’s closet and take home their own yellow-and-pink Impala skates and surfboards.

“We all have dreams, and Barbie is lucky enough to have a house full of them,” said ‘Ken’ in an official Airbnb announcement. “But now, it’s my turn, and I can’t wait to host guests inside these one-of-a-kind – dare I say, one-of-a-Ken? – digs.”

Photo credit: Joyce Lee via Airbnb
Photo credit: Joyce Lee via Airbnb

Barbie was the first to welcome guests into the Dreamhouse a few years back.

In 2019, in a similar promotional stunt that celebrated the iconic doll’s 60th anniversary, Mattel put the Malibu Dreamhouse up on Airbnb for a limited-time stay that offered four guests a chance to spend the night in the same toy-inspired house. Though it’s worth noting that the property became considerably more pink since its last stint on Airbnb, likely contributing to the recent pink color shortage brought about by the movie’s upcoming release.

Located in sunny Malibu, the two-bedroom, two-bathroom Dreamhouse with pink walls and furniture features panoramic views and serves as the perfect backdrop for Barbie’s picture-plastic paradise.

Photo credit: Joyce Lee via Airbnb
Photo credit: Joyce Lee via Airbnb
Photo credit: Joyce Lee via Airbnb
Photo credit: Joyce Lee via Airbnb

Fans can request to book Ken’s bedroom in the Malibu Barbie DreamHouse for two individual one-night stays (for up to two guests each) on July 21 and July 22, 2023.

All stays will be free of charge – because Ken couldn’t figure out how to put a price on Barbie’s Malibu DreamHouse – after all, Ken’s thing is the beach, not math.

Photo credit: Joyce Lee via Airbnb

If you want to take your chances at landing one of the coveted spots, booking starts July 17 at 10:00 AM PT at airbnb.com/kendreamhouse.

This is just the latest in a long string of promotional efforts that used Barbie’s iconic home to create hype around the toy brand. At one point, the doll’s fictional home was even listed for sale — with Million Dollar Listing LA star Josh Altman in charge of the listing. But the $25 million asking price was prohibitive, to say the least. A free stay is definitely more appealing.

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Source: fancypantshomes.com

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New York is home to the incredibly adorable Gingerbread House, California flaunts its unique Flinstone’s House, so it was only natural to have Washington join the race for the country’s most unique, straight-out-of-a-cartoon home.

The contender: a charming fairytale cottage in Ocalla that looks like it’s ready to welcome its new Snow White (and however many dwarves she’d like to bring along.)

The storybook home, built in 1982, has 4 bedrooms, 4.5 baths, and encompasses approximately 2,800 square feet. Asking price: $925,000.

Among the quirks of this adorable Snow White cottage: there are no square corners in the house, the hand-built doors all boast extensive iron work throughout, and the walls appear to more like a magical cave. You even get a storybook tree house to keep your little dwarves entertained.

Image credit: John L. Scott Real Estate
Image credit: John L. Scott Real Estate
Image credit: John L. Scott Real Estate

If moving to your own fairytale home is what you seek, make sure you check out the full details of the Snow White cottage home and get in touch with Rick Ellis, the listing agent with John L. Scott Real Estate.

But if you happen to be around $1 million short of that dream, here’s your chance to step inside one of the most unique storybook homes out there:

Image credit: John L. Scott Real Estate
Image credit: John L. Scott Real Estate
Image credit: John L. Scott Real Estate
Image credit: John L. Scott Real Estate

More quirky homes:

Brooklyn’s Century-Old Gingerbread House is NYC’s Most Adorable Home
The Oldest Ellis Island Ferry Makes One Hell of a Party Home
UFO-Shaped Palm Springs Home (Once Owned by Bob Hope) Finally Finds a Buyer
Is Mark Bell Prepping his Gorgeous Star Trek Home for Sale?

Source: fancypantshomes.com

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Nestled on a private 20,000-square-foot lot in Brooklyn’s now trendy Bay Ridge, the insanely adorable Gingerbread House is quite possibly the closest thing to a fairy tale come true.

Built back in 1917 — when it immediately grabbed the title of ‘most magnificent residence in New York City‘ — the 5,746-square-foot home at 8220 Narrows Avenue home beautifully retained its unique charm throughout the decades.

The the real-life gingerbread house, built from uncut stone, stays true to the rolling topography of the land with a pitched roof and gabled windows that look like they’ve been taken straight out of The Shire.

A captivating archway leads to a secret oasis of emerald lawns and flowing fountains as well as the home’s private entrance and three-car garage. Spacious rooms and an open layout reveal glittering stained glass windows, intricate woodcarvings, hand-painted ceilings, and whimsical door knockers.

Despite all this, the real-life Gingerbread House has been repeatedly struggling to find a buyer.

First listed in 2009 for $12 million, the unique home quietly went off market only to return in May 2014 with a fresh asking of $10.5M. Despite failing to find a buyer — and even after giving renting a shot — the Gingerbread House is now surprisingly priced at $10,999,000.

But a home like the one at 8220 Narrows Avenue isn’t looking for just any buyer; there’s probably just a handful of Hansels and Gretels in the world with pockets deep enough — and tastes this particular — that can afford to take the house off of the witch’s hands (sorry, owners; nothing personal).

Now let’s skip to the good part and take a closer look at this enchanting storybook home:

The Gingerbread House in Bay Ridge. Image credit: Douglas Elliman
The Gingerbread House in Bay Ridge. Image credit: Douglas Elliman
The Gingerbread House in Bay Ridge. Image credit: Douglas Elliman
The Gingerbread House in Bay Ridge. Image credit: Douglas Elliman
The Gingerbread House in Bay Ridge. Image credit: Douglas Elliman
The Gingerbread House in Bay Ridge. Image credit: Douglas Elliman
The Gingerbread House in Bay Ridge. Image credit: Douglas Elliman
The Gingerbread House in Bay Ridge. Image credit: Douglas Elliman
The Gingerbread House in Bay Ridge. Image credit: Douglas Elliman
The Gingerbread House in Bay Ridge. Image credit: Douglas Elliman

Source: fancypantshomes.com

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Ever wondered where Santa Claus hangs his fuzzy red hat?

Real estate website Zillow did, and recently added a new property to its listings inventory: Santa’s North Pole home.

And they didn’t stop at just showing us where Santa lives, but took us on a tour of the entire Elf Village, where no two dwellings are alike, but share one great feature: they’re all insanely adorable.

But before we jump to the tiny homes, let’s see what Santa Claus’ home is packing.

Santa’s house — where it’s Christmas all year long

Santa Claus’ living room. Image courtesy of Zillow

If you were thinking that Santa lives in a Willy Wonka-type of factory (guilty!), you’ll be pleasantly surprised by the modest and cozy home Zillow had in mind for Santa — placed separately from state-of-the-art toy-making facility, to give Mr and Mrs Claus a little privacy.

Said to have been built in the 1800s, Santa Claus’ home is a cute 3-bed, 2-bath house steeped in Old World charm.

It features a gourmet kitchen fit for a world-class baker, with Mrs. Claus’ oven boasting 12 separate cookie settings. 

Cookies are served directly from oven to table in the adjoining dining room, along with cocoa on tap. Another distinctive amenity would be the floor-to-ceiling river rock fireplace — specially set up for roasting chestnuts in the living room.

Boughs of holly deck the hall leading to Santa’s bedroom and two charming guest rooms, neighbored by Santa Claus’ quiet study where an impressive writing desk is flanked by the same sewing table he used to make the original Teddy bear.

Santa Claus’ home office. Image courtesy of Zillow
Santa Claus kitchen. Image courtesy of Zillow
Santa Claus’ bedroom. Image courtesy of Zillow

The Elf Village — where no two tiny homes are alike

But Zillow set out to answer the follow-up question to “where does Santa live?” as well.

For years we’ve been thinking of all the cute little elves helping Santa out year after year, working tirelessly so that we all get our Christmas presents, and running around the toy factory making sure no order goes unfulfilled.

But where do the elves live?

Well, apparently they live in the most charming tiny homes, spread throughout the Elf Village — the ‘official’ name Zillow gave to the 25-acre Alaska property that others have referred to over the years as Santa’s Village.

While we don’t know exactly how many tiny elf houses are in the village, we do know that no two are alike, like snowflakes. To add to the charm, the Elf Village also features a garage with space for an all-weather sleigh and stables that board eight live-in reindeer — with a bonus stall for red-nosed company.

Elf quarters. Image courtesy of Zillow
Elf quarters at the North Pole. Image courtesy of Zillow
Elf bedroom in Santa’s village. Image courtesy of Zillow
Image courtesy of Zillow

Source: fancypantshomes.com

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In more than 600 episodes of The Simpsons, one thing has remained unchanged: Marge and Homer’s home at 742 Evergreen Terrace.

The iconic TV house set in the imaginary town of Springfield has maintained more or less the exact same layout and decor since we first laid eyes on it three decades ago.

Well, the imaginative team over at Angi thought they’d fix that, and traded the Simpson’s simple décor style — that has been synonymous with American suburbia since the first show aired back in 1989 — for a more contemporary look.

So they teamed up with interior design consultant Pat McNulty — who provided them with the latest trends in furniture, colors, décor accessories — to recreate the Simpsons family’s rooms in line with 2019 interior design trends.

To help you visualize what the rooms were like beforehand, they also made sure to provide renderings of the Simpsons home pre-makeover, for comparison.

The Simpsons living room – BEFORE. Image credit: Angie’s List
The Simpsons living room – AFTER. Image credit: Angie’s List

Every room in the Simpsons house gets an updated look

The Simpsons is the longest-running primetime scripted series in television history, surpassed in overall longevity only by daytime soaps, Sesame Street, and late-night shows.

With the home of the Simpsons standing as grounds for most of the action in the series, it’s no wonder it reached such critical success that there are people out there building their own homes based on the iconic Simpsons house.

The Simpsons house is a light pink (later in the series, the house becomes light brown) two-story detached house with an attached garage, basement, and loft.

As we’ve seen repeatedly on the show, the arched front door leads directly into the foyer, opening into the sitting room to the left, and the dining room to the right, both of them featuring bay windows.

P.S.: If you want to build your own version of the Simpsons house (complete with the family car, dent included) check out our article on The Coolest Movie Homes You Can Build from LEGOs.

The living room and the kitchen stand at the back of the house. Towards the house’s rear, we’ll also find stairs to the basement, which are replaced by a closet in some episodes.

Though rarely seen, there is also a hallway off the kitchen leading to a recreation room.

The Simpsons kitchen – BEFORE. Image credit: Angie’s List
The Simpsons living room – AFTER. Image credit: Angie’s List

The second story of the house features the bedrooms, including Marge and Homer’s bedroom (with an ensuite bathroom), Bart’s bedroom, Lisa’s bedroom, and Maggie’s bedroom.

The Simpsons master bedroom – BEFORE. Image credit: Angie’s List
The Simpsons master bedroom – BEFORE. Image credit: Angie’s List

The episode “Lisa’s Wedding”, set fifteen years in the future, shows a wooden addition to the second floor, built (rather poorly) by Homer, which functions as a guest bedroom, but Homer warns Lisa and her fiancé that, “If the building inspector asks, it’s not a room. It’s a window box“.

Bart Simpson’s bedroom – BEFORE. Image credit: Angie’s List
Bart Simpson’s bedroom – AFTER. Image credit: Angie’s List
Lisa Simpson’s bedroom – BEFORE. Image credit: Angie’s List
Lisa Simpson’s bedroom – AFTER. Image credit: Angie’s List

The backyard of the house is surrounded by a wooden picket fence and a low box hedge.

It features a patio and Bart’s treehouse, from which The Simpsons annual “Treehouse of Horror” Halloween specials take their name. Occasionally, there is a hammock tied to two trees near the fence that borders Ned Flanders’s backyard.

And while the outside did not get its own makeover, the most striking update to the Simpsons’ house is likely the bathroom redesign.

Arguably the most outdated room of the house, the bathroom and its blue tiles, paired with its green, yellow and pink accents, were completely overhauled to ditch the ’80s design in favor of a much more sleek and contemporary look:

The Simpsons bathroom – BEFORE. Image credit: Angie’s List
The Simpsons bathroom – AFTER. Image credit: Angie’s List

The Simpsons house rendering is part of a series of visual content campaigns commissioned by Angie’s List, with the goal of inspiring homeowners by introducing new ways of thinking about the spaces in their homes.

Now, if the Simpsons were real, I’m pretty sure they would have been inspired by the incredible new look of their home.

More homes from movies and TV shows

The Real-Life Home Alone House: Then and Now
The ‘Fresh Prince of Bel-Air’ House Isn’t Even in Bel-Air
Richie Rich’s House is Actually the Biltmore Estate, America’s Largest Home
Is it Real? The Story Behind Tony Stark’s Insane Malibu Mansion in the Iron Man Movies

Source: fancypantshomes.com