Retro Renovation

Remodel & decorate in Mid Century Style

Home / The Museum of Mid Century Material Culture

Mattel reintroduces Barbie’s 1962 Dream House® including a Barbie to go with — mine is on the way!

Pam Kueber - Updated: August 18, 2021

Retro Renovation stopped publishing in 2021; these stories remain for historical information, as potential continued resources, and for archival purposes.

Barbie’s 1962 Dream House® — is back. I just found out. And I just ordered mine, via Amazon. Hey: It ALSO includes the Barbie!  Note: Links in this story are Amazon affiliate links, meaning, if ya click and buy I earn a small commission (currently all going toward weebit’s law school fund — Mom so proud!)

I visited my longtime friend Pat Henry, publisher of Fashion Doll Quarterly, this past weekend, and she told me about this product revival — and, she also had one in hand for us to play with.  

As longtime readers may know, Barbie was quite a figure in my life. I loved the dolls and played with Barbie, Skipper, Midge — and all their houses an cars — avidly ’til I was like… 13. Oh. Ken, too. But frankly: Ken was always … an afterthought. 

Topping on the cake: I was born same year as Barbie — I am 17 days older  — and we have marked every major birthday together since. 

The 1962 Dream House is a cardboard marvel genius product. It is completely self-contained and portable…. It includes “Slim-line” midcentury modern furniture, also cardboard-engineered, that you put together … And you get a Barbie. But not just any Barbies: She’s also a 1960s design, including a 1960s dress. 

On Mattel’s Barbie blog, Barbie® Signature Principal Designer Bill Greening provided some history on the House and on the project: 

Barbie® debuted in 1959, but she didn’t move into her first Dream House until three years later, in 1962….

They were only able to find one sample in their archives with the furniture still unassembled, but that was enough. They scanned the “sheets” with the furniture and sent them out for development….

[The doll that comes with the house is] a vintage blonde ponytail Barbie, wearing a floral PAK sheath dress collectors know as ‘On the Go’ from that original Dream House era…. That makes the reproduction of the Dream House even more special, since the doll was sold separately back in the 1960s.

I am pretty darned excited to get my own 1962 Dream House.

  • You can get yours, too, on Amazon here. 


More Barbie love:

Reader Interactions

Comments are closed. 

78 comments

Comments

  1. Tricia says

    I still have mine! My sister and I each got one for Christmas, and our parents were up until 3:00 a.m. Christmas morning assembling all the furniture. My grandchildren love to play with it now. I still have the little “albums” that go in the “hi-fi.” The bed, alas, has collapsed, but I have the rest of the furniture and accessories.

  4. ineffablespace says

    My sisters had Barbie’s college dorm room / soda shop, which was probably about 1964 or so? I remember it had a phone booth.
    They got a later version of Dream House that had a heart shaped motif on the furniture, and ruffles that could be applied to the bed.

    We sold all this when the house was sold and I was surprised that the cardboard College and Dreamhouse got a lot of attention, they were not in great condition although a lot of the components were.

  5. Karen S says

    I too was born the same year as Barbie-10 days before. My first Barbie looked like the one above but with dark hair. I have 2 on display in my sewing room-1962 & 1966. I call them my “vintage fashion models”. I made the clothes they wear from vintage patterns. I need that dream house so they have a place to live!

  7. Paige says

    Oh I LOVE it! Recently saw an original for $30 but the paper was just not in great shape. It was a struggle to refuse it though. Such fantastic memories of barbies, playing with the originals that my great grandmother had at her house and the ones I begged for from 1970 on. The clothes and adventures they took will never be forgotten.

  9. Bette Jean says

    Mine is on the way, too! I thought, “NOw I have to find a vintage sexy eyed Barbie to go with it” only to discover that she’s included!! I was born in 1952 and have a picture of my sister and me at Christmas with the original Barbies. Can’t wait to share this with my grandchildren.

  10. linda h says

    I might have to get one. I don’t know where my Barbie disappeared to. Maybe I should ask my Dad’s widow if I could have a look in her attic.