Barbie’s Dreamhouse is a super hot toy this holiday season due to the success of the Barbie movie. With all the hype around this hot pink playhouse, you might wonder how it would look and function in real life. How do you maintain it? If Barbie were real, how much would it cost her to repair her Dreamhouse?
Barbie has been an astronaut, a teacher, an architect, and even a construction worker! Between her career and her adventures, she likely doesn’t have enough time to maintain her beautiful Dreamhouse, even though she could do it herself.
That’s where we come in.
We researched how much it would cost for windows, a vinyl pool liner, repairs to her Dreamhouse’s flat roof, a garage for her convertible, fresh coats of fluorescent pink inside and out (and on a new picket fence), and much more.
What Does Barbie’s Dreamhouse Look Like?
Barbie has had many Dreamhouses through the years, ranging from modest ranch houses to McMansions with an eclectic mix of aesthetics. However, the dreamhouse we’ll be looking at today is the unapologetically pink three-story Dreamhouse from the Barbie (2023) movie.
Located in the Palm Springs-esque Barbieland, the Barbie movie Dreamhouse mixes mid-century modern architecture with fun (if impractical!) features, like a three-story pool slide. This version of the Dreamhouse is also very open — quite literally, as there are no proper rooms to speak of.
The Dreamhouse has a living area, a dining area, a bar, a kitchen, a fireplace, and an outdoor area with a kidney-shaped pool on the first floor. The second floor houses Barbie’s walk-in closet and a bathroom, complete with a bubble bath. Up top on the third floor is her bedroom, which features a sequined heart-shaped bed.
The Cost of Repairing Barbie’s Dreamhouse
For the purposes of this exercise, we’ll assume that the three-story Dreamhouse from the Barbie movie is around 1,230 square feet with a 1,230-square-foot yard based on her driveway.
Barbie’s Dreamhouse also lacks a few features that a flesh-and-blood Barbie might need to feel comfortable, like a full set of walls for every room. We’ll also calculate the cost of these additions to see how much she would need to pay to renovate her home for a human occupant (after all, the Barbie movie is all about our girl learning to cope with the real world).
Let’s look at the table below to find out the estimated cost of renovating Barbie’s Dreamhouse.
| Service | Cost |
| Wall Construction | $5,523 – $15,863 |
| Window Installation | $290 – $1,950 per piece |
| Custom Door Replacement | $335 – $5,165 |
| Garage Construction | $12,720 – $20,140 |
| Exterior and Interior Painting | $6,960 – $16,850 |
| Flat Roof Repairs | $300 – $1,175 |
| Flat Roof Replacement | $13,500 – $20,250 |
| Solar Panel Installation and Maintenance | $20,570 |
| Gutters | $1,709 – $5,268 |
| Pool and Accessories | $4,250 – $32,408+ |
| Mosquito Control | $350 – $550 |
| Fencing | $18 – $33 per linear foot, $1,850 for fence painting |
| Lawn Care | $2,065 – $2,379 annually |
| Total Renovation Cost | $72,632 to $197,283 (including 150 linear feet of fencing and 30 windows) |
Walls
As a doll, Ms. Barbie probably doesn’t mind how her toyetic home is so exposed; the view of Barbieland from her bedroom is quite pretty. But let’s assume that this Barbie is human, with all of the desires that come with being a human, like privacy and security; if you feel comfortable sleeping in her fully-exposed bedroom, then kudos to you!
That means it’s time to close her home off to the world.
Barbie will need building permits for a major renovation like this. If we go by the fee schedule of Palm Springs, CA, for 2023-2024 as a basis, she’ll be spending at least $500 in permits.
Let’s break down the modest estimated cost of adding new walls to her Dreamhouse:
- Framing: $2,800 to $5,200
- Drywall: $600 to $1,200
- Doors (she’ll need new ones if she plans to get rid of the open-concept floor plan): $393 to $2,013 per door
- Insulation: $1,230 to $6,950
These costs are based on the cost of a 20×20 room addition (except for insulation), so it’s likely that it might cost a bit more to fully close off Barbie’s Dreamhouse.
But wait a minute, we’re going to lose the playset aesthetic that makes this Dreamhouse so iconic! Well, we have a solution that keeps our human Barbie secure but still open, airy, and light.
Windows
That’s right, we’re adding windows to the Dreamhouse! But not just any windows, mind you. We’re taking a page from mid-century modern architecture and adding large and sleek windows that give the illusion of openness while preserving the security of Barbie’s home.
The perfect window styles for the mid-century modern aesthetic are casement windows, awning windows, picture windows, and sliding windows. Here’s how much it would probably cost to add these windows to Barbie’s Dreamhouse:
- Casement windows: $340 to $630 per piece
- Awning windows: $240 to $680 per piece
- Picture windows: $1,900 per 8’ x 8’ piece
- Sliding windows: $415 to $1,270 per piece
- Labor costs: $50 per hour
Barbie could also invest in some glass block windows for her bathroom if she wants lots of natural light while maintaining her privacy. Glass block windows will probably cost her around $155 to $840 per 48” x 48” window to install.
Let’s say Barbie will need 30 windows to preserve the “open” look of her real-life Dreamhouse. That’s a $6,150 to $44,250 price tag for new windows.
Doors
It’s a bit amusing how this Dreamhouse doesn’t have walls but has a large, pink front door — adorned with Bs and B-shaped handles, no less. But let’s stop thinking about the absurdity of this fabulous part of her home and shift to what would happen if it were to start breaking down.
How much would it cost to replace this a-door-able front door? It would cost Barbie an average of $1,260 to replace her front door, but she can theoretically spend as little as $335 (a bit unlikely because it’s a custom door) or as much as $5,165.
If Barbie were to add walls to close off the Dreamhouse, she would need a new patio door to give her easy access to her party pool and backyard. The average cost of a sliding glass patio door is around $2,500, but she can spend as little as $1,350 or as much as $3,450 for this new addition.
Garage for Barbie’s Corvette
This version of the Dreamhouse doesn’t have a garage; Barbie leaves her Chevrolet Corvette — pink, of course — on the driveway. If Barbie would like to add a covered space for her cute car, she would need to spend anywhere from $12,720 to $20,140 for a one-car garage.
This doesn’t include a workspace or storage space; for that, she’d need to shell out a cool $16,960 to $28,090.
Paint: A Fresh Coat of Fuschia
If Barbie were to add new walls to her Dreamhouse, she would certainly want them painted both inside and out. It would be a great time to get the rest of the Dreamhouse retouched as well so that it looks uniformly pink and perfect.
Here’s how much it would cost to paint a three-story house like the Dreamhouse:
- Exterior paint: $4,500 to $10,700
- Interior paint: $2,460 to $6,150
Of course, she would need to buy the best shades of pink for the Dreamhouse; even the white paint in the Dreamhouse is actually a very pale pink. Even better is buying in bulk to save money! Here are some paint colors that would fit Barbie’s Dreamhouse:
- Rosco Fluorescent Pink. This was the exact paint that they used to paint the Dreamhouses for the Barbie movie; in fact, they went through so much that it caused a worldwide shortage! This pink is unapologetically bright, perfect for the Dreamhouse.
Barbie will have to drive to San Diego or Huntington Beach (the equivalent of these places in her world, anyway) to get a few gallons; you, however, can snag this paint on Amazon.
- Backdrop X Barbie Dreamhouse. This collaboration features three paints: turquoise, purple, and of course, pink. If Barbie ever wanted to branch out of pink, these would be good colors to start with. These paints are available on Backdrop’s site or on Amazon starting at $49 for half a gallon.
Flat Roof
Barbie’s Dreamhouse features a flat roof, which is par for the course for mid-century modern builds. If it’s leaking or otherwise not in pristine condition, she would need to pay anywhere from $300 to $1,175 to get her flat roof repaired by a pro. But what if Barbie’s roof is too run down for repairs?
The cost of a flat roof replacement for a 1,000- to 1,500-square-foot home is around $13,500 on the low end and $20,250 on the high end of the scale. She might need to get a permit for this project too; let’s estimate that will cost her around $250. Let’s hope she doesn’t need her roof replaced anytime soon!
Solar Panels
Did you know that Barbie became a renewable energy engineer in 2022? It would totally be up her alley to install solar panels to power her Dreamhouse. But before this project can get started, she’ll likely need to get a permit that we can estimate might cost around $400.
The cost of installing solar panels for a home is around $20,000 on average. It’s quite expensive, but that’s the price Barbie will have to pay to be more environmentally friendly and sustainable at home. Besides, the money she’ll save on her utility bills in the years to come will more than make up for the initial upfront cost.
However, that’s not the only cost Engineer Barbie will have to incur in the name of solar power. The average annual maintenance cost for solar panels is around $570.
Gutters
You might be thinking, “Why would Barbie need gutters when she lives in pseudo-Palm Springs? It hardly rains there!” And to that we say that even a house in the middle of the desert can suffer water damage if it’s not prepared for the rare rainy day.
Barbie is a forward thinker; it’s not that unlikely that she would consider gutters a good investment for the Dreamhouse if she lived in the real world. Since it doesn’t look like her Dreamhouse has any — at least, at first glance — she’ll need to prepare anywhere between $800 to $2,480 to get gutters installed.
She might even invest in gutter guards, which will cost her somewhere between $684 to $2,213.
Inevitably, she will need these cleaned in the future. Barbie can expect a bill of $105 to $375 for gutter cleaning services. Or, more likely for a girl who can and does do everything, she could roll up her sleeves and clean her gutters herself at least once per year.
Pool
Now it’s time to take a dive from the roof down to the pool – you could slip down Barbie’s water slide if you’d prefer to! The water in Barbieland, like most things, is plastic. But let’s assume that you can actually take a dip in the pool, shall we?
What is Barbie’s pool made of? Our best guess would be vinyl since that’s a plastic that’s used in building in-ground pools. Better yet, it’s possible to actually make a vinyl pool with custom shapes like Barbie’s. Replacing the vinyl liner will cost her around $2,250 to $4,535; if you’re curious, it probably cost her $32,408 to $60,873 to have the in-ground pool installed.
And that totally tubular pink pool slide? On the higher end of the scale, homeowners pay $16,000 for a pool slide. However, Barbie’s is three floors tall, so it’s probably more expensive than that.
On top of that, Barbie will need to pay between $2,000 to $4,035 for annual pool maintenance to keep it clean and swimmable.
Mosquito Control
Zoology is one of the many fields that Ms. Barbie has pursued. She most likely understands that mosquitoes play a role in our ecosystem, especially since most of the 3,500 species on Earth prefer to snack on plants. However, she also has been a doctor, so she would understand why mosquito control is important, especially if she were a flesh-and-blood Barbie.
Barbie probably wouldn’t be opposed to mosquito control, as long as we don’t kill too many of them. The cost of mosquito control treatments can range from $350 to $550. Now, days by the pool and the Barbie-cues that Ken will host whenever he swings by will be mosquito-free!
Pink Picket Fencing
Next on our list is a pink picket fence. The Dreamhouses in The Barbie Way cul-de-sac don’t have any fences – except for Skipper’s Treehouse. While it may look a little odd, let’s humor the thought of the Barbie Dreamhouse having a cute pink picket fence to complete the look.
The cost of installing a picket fence ranges from $18 to $33 per linear foot. Let’s say that Barbie needs 150 linear feet of fencing to fully close off her yard. That’s $2,700 to $4,950 in new picket fencing.
In the real world, fences typically don’t come in pink. If it’s the same in Barbieland — although unlikely — it might cost Barbie around $1,850 to get her fence painted.
Lawn Care
Last up is lawn care. Barbie’s Dreamhouse has a modest lawn dotted with what look to be daffodils up front and lined with birds of paradise and a hedge out back. There are also some towering palm trees and what looks like smaller, more manageable banana trees close to her property.
Let’s break down how much the cost of the basic lawn care needed to maintain just her picture-perfect 1,230-square-foot lawn:
- Mowing: $30 per visit
- Weed control: $35 to $80 per hour
- New sprinkler system: $365.70 to $590.40 ($0.29 to $0.48 per square foot)
If Barbie wants her hedges trimmed, she’ll need to pay about $69 an hour.
Over a full year, Barbie will pay $2,065 to $2,379 on lawn maintenance. This is assuming 52 weeks of mowing, weed control twice a year, a new sprinkler system, and hedge trimming once a year. Without the sprinkler system, she would pay $1,699 to $1,789.
FAQ (Like, What About Ken?)
What about Ken?
Barbie’s Dreamhouse is solely Barbie’s. Ms. Barbie lives alone, and the Dreamhouses have always been under her name — even the very first Dreamhouse that was released back in 1962!
While Barbie might hand the keys over to Ken for him to keep watch during hectic parts of her life, he doesn’t really get a lot of say in how the Dreamhouses look. The one exception is the Malibu Dreamhouse he injected some “Ken-ergy” into.
How did you get these prices?
The cost of each service is taken from its national average cost and price range. Some services are cheaper than the average because Barbie’s Dreamhouse is on the smaller side. That’s why we tried to guesstimate the size of the Dreamhouse and her lawn.
You can read each pricing guide linked throughout this article to learn more.
How would Barbie afford all of this?
Barbara Millicent Roberts, better known as “Barbie,” is an icon and inspires girls around the world to be who they want to be. Barbie is everything. Between her many careers and her successful social media presence, she likely has enough funds to cover a full revamp of the Dreamhouse if she wanted one.
If that wasn’t enough, the Barbie movie proved to be a wildly successful venture for her, raking in roughly $1.5 billion in box offices all around the world. She can afford to make all of these repairs, additions, and improvements!
Hire a Pro and Save Time Like Barbie
Barbie is perfectly capable of fixing up her Dreamhouse, but she is a very busy woman inspiring millions of girls worldwide. As such, it may be worth it for her to hire professionals to repair and renovate her home when needed; that way, she has time to be the Barbie we all know and love. She’ll need some R&R from time to time, too!
You might be like Barbie, too — skilled, but busy. If that sounds like you, then why not hire a Home Gnome pro near you to fix your roof, add windows, clean your gutters, or paint your house fluorescent pink (just like Barbie)?
Main Image Credit: Infographic by Juan Rodriguez
HomeGnome participates in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program. HomeGnome may earn revenue from products promoted in this article.
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