Miscellaneous: Humorous

Gotta love this one. The creepy looking girls, the stand alone Miko, wide open double doors, and commentary are classic. We've all thought it, so here is the 'New Yorker' esque cartoon encapsulating a dark cultural satire.

If you wanted to sleep in the A Frame, here's a way: 

Just get some yellow and red sheets and it is complete. 

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

Furnished Houses: Personal Decor

I'll be adding more pics as time goes by, but here's a start. This post will showcase well appointed Red and pink roof homes interior design.

Turn it, flip it around and reverse it. 

Tres chic! 

Featuring tile overlay flooring on really light yellow floor pieces. 

Looks like theres a real party going on here. 

Smaller scale furniture works best for the house as the regular size sucks up the whole room. 

Some nice vintage dolls with pop art chair and '60's dining room. House could use restoring but overall looks complete. 

groovy lounge

While not my first choice in staging, it is unusual, creative and attains a certain look. Notice the faux brick flooring, Marakesh style light fixture, hand painted blue lamp and bounty of silk flora. Most interesting is the custom roof piece placement which looks like the Cottage gables atop the pillars and the top panels layered above. 

Here's a look at how the house looked as it was made and furnished in the mid 80s.

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

Never a fan of the factory chair fabric, here is one uncovered and cleaned up. I'd say it's a good match for the china hutch and table:

Other Houses: 1975 Mountain House $8.99

I came across this ad this week while doing a random scour of the internet for anything A Frame small house that I was not aware of. This is a textbook A Frame dollhouse. There is a catch however. Upon closer examination one can see that the house stands in at 11.5 inches, and the people only 3.5 inches. So, not a Barbie house, but still noteworthy. Perhaps this was the inspiration for the '78 Dream House we love so so much. 

Customs: 3 Story Mansion, Pink Cottage, Pool and Vette

I have to admit, even I was speechless when I saw this MAMOTH custom structure. Longtime fans of the blog know the I am not a pink (pepto abysmal pink that is) enthusiast, but many of you are, so I try to include noteworthy posts involving the 1985 A Frame dollhouse. Well, this will definitely appeal to those who like pink and unrestrained decor.

And speaking of complete sugary decadence, here is a pink cottage, vette and dream pool.

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

Other Houses: Generic A Frame with Cool Midcentury Furniture

Are you sitting down for this? There is another 70's A Frame in Barbie scale out there. Once in a blue moon (which is old timey talk for almost never) you will see one on Feebay. I have seen it once and saved the pics which are on one of my flash drives somewhere, but a few weeks ago I saw just the furniture for sale, so here it is. It may be just under Barbie size, so figure definately for 8 inch or Blythe scale. The design is divine, coloring: non offensive and definately Ken approved (me). Until I find the photos of the hosue, please refer to the post, 'The Other Cottage'. its very similar to the Suntan Tuesday Taylor ski lodge/beach house. Simple, yet elegant and interchangeable.

Mattel A Frame Beach House: 1990 Pool House (AKA the other Pink A Frame)

Set beside white sandy beaches, aquamarine colored waters and giant ferns the very pink open wire structure stands.  

Similarities to the '78 collector dubbed 'A Frame' include bilateral construction, double front doors, white balcony and the overall shape of the letter A. 

From this side you can see dual lantern sconces as in the 1978 House. 

Like the '72 house this has a balcony lawn. I guess they are going for a pied a tere  look. 

For some reason the tile work reminds me of 'Saved By The Bell'. 

Many thanks to A Frame blog's regular contributor, Mary, of the Skipper blog (you can visit by clicking on the link in the upper left hand corner).  She has generously shared photographs and details regarding the 1990 Pool House. This is the only architecturally correct A frame Mattel came out with for Barbie. Though I  favor plastic homes without cardboard or stickers, this playset does follow a sort of sequence in the line of Mattel A Frame inspired houses so deserves an honorable mention here. For fans of the 1985 Pink A Frame Dream House this could be the Cottage since they never came out with a pink version of the 1982 Cottage. I would love to see pictures of this house redone in '78 colors, hint hint blog followers.

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

Real Life Examples December 2011 Edition

1940's concept house.

Another shot. 

Red tile slant roof with modern white walls. 

Red tile roof with large cut outs like the right and left sides of the Mattel home. 

Diagonal slats on a door. 

Groovy Desert Lodge. Don't you love the Mondrian window panes? 

Desert Lodge side view. 

This is near where I volunteer. It sort of reminds me of a side section. White walls, red tile roof, open down below and asymmetrical. Just needs the skylight cut out. 

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

Furniture: Reissue in Pink

1982 box

Just when we thought we know of all the factory variations of the product line I accidentally discover this anomaly. We all know the harvest gold stove was reissued in the 80's as pink and white along with the rest of the Dream Furniture collection. What was unclear is what year did each of the above stoves come out? From my research I have found that the pale pink stove on the right was in fact the 1982 re-issue, and I am supposing the hot pink one on the left is a 1985 final year issue. Here you can see that one is definitely HOT pink translucent doors and the other a softer bubble gum pink, the stickers are different in several ways. Personally I like the silver stickers over the pink and the black backsplash over the white and pink one, also the number pad on the microwave works better for me. The pots and pans are reverse colors as well, one set is white pots/pans with pink lids, the other the opposite. I am assuming the refrigerator has similar differences in the pink versions, The last photo is my recently acquired hot pink 1985 set 99 cents each plus shipping, ;-) Notice the difference in time? The original was 5:36, now its 8:35. So either Barbie is making dinner way later than before or she bakes breakfast.

1982 box accessory photo.

The hot pink version 1985 fridge and stove.  Other than the Kitchen littles line, I can't think of any other quality white side by side fridge out there. 

in response to There are quite a few versions of the Dream House, the first one came with the mirrored closet doors, furnished version came with the patio triangles while unfurnished version did not...later version of the house did not included the mirrored closet doors and the furniture also was missing the mirrored finish (the coffee and end table) Then they changed the furniture color to the pink, same Dream Furniture but in a different color scheme (pink & white) The house was updated in 1986 in a light pink color,the light pink color version is the hardest to find today it was produced for a year and then Mattel used a more raspberry colored roof instead of the soft pink. Also the windows changed from the clear with the light pink trim to darker pink trim to and all light pink window and the last version came with the all hot pink windows and an almost hot pink roof to match!! The last Dream House was manufactured in 1991. Quite a long running production..the house first appeared in 1979.

Here is the pink 'vette, cottage and dream pool. 

1985 Barbie Mattel Living Room Accents Grandfather clock . Surprisingly well made and rare today. 

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

Everything reissued in pink for the 1980s pink version of the home, wouldn't it have been great if in the 90's there was a blue house with all blue furniture issued?