Real Life Examples: Fall 2016

Top hung, swing out aluminum windows. 

Great example of the rear doors. 

Full transparency, 3 sections, forward facing roof gable, white beams, good match! 

Excellent example of modernist, minimalist architectural design, oversized double front doors with oversized hard ware and lantern. 

To the right is a white iron gate, akin to the breezy walls of the 1978 house. 

Late 70's California contemporary Spanish shed roof with 2nd floor patio - the exact style of the Barbie 1978 or 1979 A Frame Dream Doll House. 

4 tall, skinny, glass patio doors. 

This house is in southern California, features exposed white beams and a front, central white balcony, these were built around 1980, when I was driving past I immediately saw the similarities between Mattel's house and these ones, but as I have not ever seen these anywhere else, I wonder if the original designer of the toy house lived around here or someplace similar. 

A variation on the house above, there were about 5 of these houses in the neighborhood I was in. Not far, there was a house with a very exaggerated long sloping red roof, shed roof and different angles, very akin to Barbie's house, regretfully, I did not pull over to take a photo. 

White beams, yellow floor side view in 1970's local restaurant. 

Two real center sections placed together. Just needs a new paint job. 

This is a 1970's Spanish contemporary that seems to have been restored for a "Tuscan" look. Yes, if it were painted white with a red roof, here is our beloved A Frame Dream House. 

while the house is not a frame, look closely at the red roof tiles, they are a perfect match. 

here is another 1970's Spanish contemporary asymmetrical suburban house with balcony in the front. The center garage is the only real departure from our beloved 

Imagine this house painted white, with yellow doors, its a near perfect match! 

rear side section ground  level

Just the right shade of yellow!

thats what I imagine the real life bedroom to be decorated like. '70's Optimistic Yellow'.

Casper quietly enters the home. The only thing I would change is the door hardware needs to be oversized and vintage.

This aging suburb relic features a long sloping asymmetrically gabled roofline, front balcony, horizontally rectangular windows and vaulted ceilings, just like the 1978-1985 Barbie DreamHouse.

From 1987's, 'Harry and the Hendersons', the neighbor's kitchen floor is sheet linoleum in the same pattern as the yellow floor pieces of the 1978 A Frame house. I didn't know until now that was actually a thing, I always thought it was meant to be a flagstone patio thing they just made for all the rooms, good to know this is based in reality. 

Shipping: Pricing and Logistics, What to do?!

It won't fit into a sedan. 

On the scale at FedEx. 

So, I learned so much this last time around. Things have changed in the 8 years that I have been buying and selling these houses on Ebay (see older posts). Currently, USPS charges $169 to ship this, UPS is about mid way between USPS and FedEx. FedEx charged $92 to ship across the country from Southern California to NY. I opened an account and got a first timer discount reducing the cost to about $72 with tax. You could get that discount, too, if opening a new account.

Now that I have an account next time I print my own label and schedule a pick up- SO much easier!! It will go 4 day ground delivery, this particular box was 21x21x25 and total weight was 33 pounds. Shipping will be less if you live closer to your buyer. If you are the buyer and the seller is inexperienced and doesn't know what to do then you can tell them all of this so you get your house and not an email that says, "sorry, shipping was too high, I am cancelling the order". This way you get the best price and the house. =-)

You don't wanna go this route. So, if USPS is a billion dollars in debt, why doesn't the government just increase the budget? They aren't a company, there should be no 'profit' for heaven's sake! 

This is what has happened to me a few times, not great obviously. This is due to ignorant sellers and overpriced shipping. Shame it's not common sense to find out what something costs to ship PRIOR to listing it. This ended up being cancelled. Not sure what she did with the house. 

What Should Packing Look Like?

Cushion the box bottom with a layer of packing paper and thin layer of either popcorn or shredding. 

Individually wrap every piece, even the larger ones. 

This is what the fully packed box will look like, walls are diagonal. the box here is 25 inches high, 26 inches wide and 22 inches long. 

Top off box will popcorn, shake so it settles, put in more popcorn in the space that appears on top, the grey bags here are styrofoam pieces that i happened to have, otherwise it would be more popcorn or crumpled up packing paper, or bubble wrap. its whatever is cheapest and easiest for you, just make sure its either styrofoam or air bubbles. 

This box is my own personal A Frame going back into storage. here, I am glad I stock piled bags and foam wrap through the year so I can use it now without having to run out to the store and buy anything. Admittedly, I use higher quality wrap for my A Frame, since 1, its a higher quality one than I am selling, and 2, almost no one uses any packing paper at all for shipping A Frames, so using anything is an upgrade. 

The best product I have found to date is foam wrap, its white, spongy, compact and gets the job done, its easy to cut and tape, it really made packing my A Frame for long term storage a breeze. It was actually left over from one A Frame that I bought a few years back, miraculously, it was so well packed. The box I stored it in is a box for plastic garage storage cabinet, its about the same size as the factory box, maybe a bit bigger, but it works great. 

When you receive your A Frame from an Ebay seller, you will want to use (if possible) the box and wrapping they used. That way when you go to sell or store yours you already have everything you need (hopefully). Sometimes I get my recently purchased house shipped in a garbage box with newspaper and walmart bags, so I wouldn't use that but use what you can.

When you are cleaning your A Frame use a toothbrush in this manor to get out dirt. 

When you are dusting the A Frame for storage or shipping, use a soft bristled paint brush like this to get dust out of the grooves. 

PLAN FOR THE WORST

THEY LEFT A 'SORRY' NOTE

These are 1/6 tulip chairs from ebay shipped from china, they actually emerged unharmed despite some crazy fool stomping onto of the box. not even a scratch, thank goodness, PS these are the most awesome chairs, the quality is what saved them, they are VERY well made and you will be very happy with them! =)

Replacement Patio Pieces and Doors: Outside the Box Idea

Didn't have my potted plants handy to stage this but you get the idea. 

Its shiny because its still in the wrapper 

Here is the name of who makes these cool colored cutting boards

I was shopping in a kitchen and restaurant supply store and came across the last one of the cool yellow cutting boards by Update International My base plates are fairly dark, so if you have base plates that are more faded, then it would be a better color match. theoretically they could be cut into triangles with a table saw. This was $15 so quite affordable if you can find it or order one online. The patio triangles are so rare since they were only issued in furnished houses in 1978.

Custom floor configuration. 

On the shelf at the 99 cent only store

The patterns on these thin metal sheets are a good match, they are affordable too! Hobby Lobby is where they can be found, just be sure to find a good way to cut it on a flat surface with a perfectly square angle. I bet once primed and painted, they are a good replacement for missing front doors. 

At Target, these are a very flat basket weave pattern, the inside is  perfectly flat. These can easy be painted yellow to be the replacement front doors. Just measure, cut with Dremel tool, paint and install (see post about replacement hinges). 

At Dollar Store, the patten would also work for doors, just measure, cut, paint and install. =-) 

Cut these down to size to make replacement doors, they cost $1 each, far cheaper than buying vintage, and are solid for those of you wanting more enclosure.

I would use an inexpensive dremel tool to cut them to door size.

At the 99 Cent Only Store, are these perfectly colored bins, just measure, cut and install!