Real Life Versions: Volume 1

Front and balcony yellow doors. L-O-V-E it!

Just west of downtown Palm Springs, California, in the good ol' US of A.

Exposed brown beams. A little crispy from the 118 degree temps we get here in the summer.

Verticle wood beams.

I recently moved to Palm Springs in Southern California, and took these pictures. I was excited to see real life examples of my toy passion. There are better examples out there I will be posting in the future, but for now these are what I have. They are by a renowned architect (Alexander?) and were constructed in the late 1950's in the mid century modern style. One even shows real life exposed beams (they would be better if the owner painted them white or cream) Enjoy.

Talk about living in a real life 1978 A Frame Dream house!!!

What a cute patio and yard, too! 

Kind of a stretch, but what the heck, its a super cool house. 

Every town will have a neighborhood like this 1975-1985-ish: 

In every configuration you can think of, even a 1 level ranch style, best enjoyed in a hilly, large lot neighborhood with an abundance of green space, a lake and even two swans kissing and forming the heart shape as they do! Only $750,000 (in 2023)

By the mid 1970s this new earthy, yet ultra modern architecture was storming the country. Ostensibly, this is what became of our beloved "Atomic Ranch" house of just 20 years prior. Space and light were held in the highest esteem, thus not only walls, but ceilings pushed out and up, challenging the very limits of cubic footage for the average American middle class family. Now, the husband had a generous study all to himself (think of Mike Brady's den), the wife almost certainly had a home spa jetted garden tub for her to luxuriate in whenever she pleased and the kids' generously sized rec room first established in the 1960's remained unabridged for the new home video gaming systems now increasingly available to consumers at finer retail outlets and electronic stores. Here, the perfect marriage of magnificent nature and modernism remained not only intact, but better than it's ever been before. 

architect architects idea ideas goal aesthetic eames eichler palm springs by the sea malibu granola earth tones earthy autumn wexler wood slats open playful fun 1960s 60s

open playful play time

less heirloo

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Furniture: The Lost Furniture Knockoffs

12" scale

3" scale

In this rare photo you can see the 'knock off' line of Arco brand furniture. Clearly, these were knockoffs since the style, color and inventory was nearly identical in every way, living room set not withstanding. There was a clear blue dining room table not shown here. I know because i had the dining room set as a kid, circa 1983. I cant believe Mattel didnt sue them (unless Mattel was a parent company or had some deal with Arco). This scale would just about fit the 3-D paper centerpiece posted below as they are approximately Marx scale. UPDATE: the two top photos i just found online and is a full 1:6 scale. extremely rare, each went for about $40 and are dated 1984.

Customs: Conglomerations Volume 1

In these never before seen photos, you can see the possibilities of constructing more than one together. The top photos are of my current inventory. I just keep finding good deals on evilbay and recently scored one for $9.99 plus shipping. In those photos are approximately 3 and a half a frames and one partial cottage. They are in what used to be called a bedroom. The pink one is not mine, btw.

Mega mansion and custom front walk and yard:

1978 Mattel A Frame Barbie Dream Doll House Red roof yellow floors mod groovy 1970s 1980s custom OOAK 

Other Products: A Frame Birthday Party Centerpiece: Volume 1

Initially, I thought this was contrived and unecessary. But if you think about it, its a birthday party, and the big gift is the A frame house, what better decoration, especially since most birthdays have a significant portion of the time at the table eating cake facing the center of the table. I do like that it shows different characters in a cartoon likeness. They sure did remember to have lots of potted plants around and it does show a banister and staircase absent in the real house. It probably didnt cost alot when new, but being so rare now it is an intersting find. I think it only went for about $10 on ebay.

Parts: The Elusive Patio Triangles...

I thought it would be good to devote an entire post to the patio floor sections. They are very rare to find when purchasing an A frame these days. I still dont know what years these extra pieces were issued. I would say less than 1/4 of the ones i see online still have the sections included. So, at this point the only way i can see getting them is to purchase one that has them ($100-140), and sell the house back without them, or for parts. You will probably net them for 20-40 bucks. I think its almost worth that since it fits the house into different configurations better. I was thinking about getting some pieces cut out of high density mdf, priming, and painting them until original ones could be obtained, but havent had the time to try this yet.


1978 Mattel A Frame Barbie Dream Doll House Red roof yellow floors mod groovy 1970s 1980s custom OOAK