UPDATED with confirmation: Deadline has confirmed that the hot-pink mansion spotted in Malibu this weekend is, indeed, the return of Barbie’s DreamHouse timed to the release of Warner Bros.’ Barbie movie on July 21.
Press materials for the promotion reveal a twist: This time it’s Ken who’s hosting.
“Ken is inviting two lucky guests to stay in the newly revamped Malibu DreamHouse in all its Kendom glory. While Barbie is away, Ken is listing his room in her iconic Malibu DreamHouse on Airbnb and bringing Barbie’s all-pink world back by popular demand.”
The pink palace includes a disco roller rink, gym, giant sandbox, second-story pool slide, dirt bike and a cowboy themed, hot-pink bedroom.
Bookings for two, one-night stays for up to two guests begin July 17 at 10 a.m.
PREVIOUSLY at 1:20 pm: Barbie’s Dreamhouse has enjoyed a wave of media attention of late, with Margot Robbie giving Architectural Digest an in-character tour of the set from Greta Gerwig’s upcoming movie, Nicki Minaj and Ice Spice striking poses at the pink property in their new “Barbie World” music video, an interactive version of the house on display at the World of Barbie exhibit in Santa Monica, an HGTV four-part Barbie Dreamhouse Challenge competition series set to debut July 16, a new insurance commercial from Progressive featuring the pink manse and the New York Times’ recently publishing an exhaustive exploration of the totemic toy through the decades.
Then, over the weekend, a hot pink citadel popped up in a Malibu looking very much like the living embodiment of the Dream itself.
Aerial footage posted by KCAL News’ helicopter cameraman John Schreiber shows a three-story dwelling replete with the iconic dance floor and a second story pink slide feeding into a swanky zero edge pool containing giant floating letters that spell out “K-E-N.” As if that weren’t plain enough, Mattel’s famous sunburst Barbie logo appears on what looks to be a step-and-repeat. Curiously, however, the name “Ken” seems to be written in blue over the top of “Barbie.”
Deadline has reached out to Warner Bros. for comment and will add any relevant information received.
In the meantime, it’s worth noting that the exact same home was made over in 2019 — though much less aggressively — for an Airbnb/Barbie mashup to commemorate the Barbie brand’s 60th anniversary. The home was made available for a limited time via Airbnb for the dream price of just $60 a night. See photo from Airbnb below.
