When Ruth Handler introduced Barbie in 1959, the doll became an instant hit. The initial concerns that girls wouldn’t want to play with an adult doll (rather than the baby and child dolls they were used to) were quickly quieted. Children enjoyed Barbie’s glamour, fashionable look, and pretending to be grown up. Her popularity and accessory line grew quickly, leading to the creation of the Barbie Dreamhouse.

Mattel released the first Barbie Dreamhouse in 1962. The original version was a studio style single room with a bed, couch, chair, TV, and a record player. Since the house and accessories were made of cardboard, the house was at a very affordable price. As new versions were released, the house added rooms, more accessories, and fun features like an elevator and a pink slide.

The next release in ’64 had a two-room layout with a small kitchen and a patio. In ’74, the Barbie Dreamhouse was up to three stories with six rooms and was marketed as a stylish city townhouse. There was a slim Dreamhouse that folded out of a carrying case and a motorhome version. The 1979 version was an A-frame house with two stories and six rooms that was modular so that kids could take it apart and put rooms in different locations.

Barbie’s next house was a cottage with a rooftop balcony, patio furniture, and a barbeque, and then there was a courtyard house in multiple shades of pink. The mid-‘90s house was a two-story Victorian with a balcony, stained glass windows, a turret, and battery-operated elevator. The next version of the Dreamhouse was a larger two-story Victorian that came with a swing on the front porch, a dresser that doubled as a bathtub, and larger counter in the kitchen.

The mid-2000s version returned to the three-story townhouse format with a spiral staircase. The next one built on the previous version, adding a third floor balcony, and more of a glam look than the previous classic coloring. Upgrades continued with the 2013 Dreamhouse featuring an elevator for her clothes and TV that actually switched channels, then two years later, the Dreamhouse finally got a garage for Barbie’s convertible. Then Barbie got a Dreamhouse with voice controlled functions and one with eight rooms and a giant slide. The 2021 updates included a home office with a laptop, an elevator large enough for the Barbie doll that uses a wheelchair, and a pool slide.