House Hunters: Dollhouse Edition

Meet Steven and Bella Smith and their four-year-old daughter Kenzie. Steven is an officer for DPD (Dollton Police Department). Bella is a ballet instructor who provides dance lessons in her own studio. The Smiths have lived in Dollton for the past six months and are ready to buy a permanent home. The couple has a budget of $200 and the following wish list:

They would like a furnished house (constructed from wood not plastic) with two bedrooms and an elevator. Additionally, Steven would like an attached garage and Bella would like a balcony or sunroom.

*Bella's name and the Smiths' occupations were bestowed by Mara as they are one of her two main doll families : )

First up, is the Kidkraft Sparkle Mansion priced at $179.99.

NOT my image- Property of KidKraft. Click the link for more details.

The house comes with 30 pieces of wooden furniture. It is four stories high with five rooms (a formal living room, kitchen, bath, master bedroom, and a bonus room). The home has an elevator, an attached garage, and a backyard pool and BBQ grill. There is also a patio off the master bedroom. To top it off, the house features lights and sounds. While Bella loves the décor, she is concerned about the lack of a second bedroom for Kenzie. Steven would like to see something a little less sparkly and a lot less pink.

So, next their agent (me!) is showing them the Kidkraft MajesticMansion priced at $159.00.

NOT my image- Property of KidKraft. Click the link for more details.

This house has four stories also, but it has six spacious rooms (a large formal living room, separate kitchen and dining rooms, master bedroom, bath, and a nursery/child’s room). It also has an elevator, attached garage, and a sun room. No lights or sounds, but the home does come with 34 pieces of wooden furniture. Steven favors the traditional décor of this house over the pinkalicious mansion they saw first. Bella isn’t opposed to the traditional style, but would like to see something a little more modern.

Next, their agent shows them a listing that should meet their need for space and their desire for modern design: the Kidkraft Soho Townhouse priced at $165.99.

NOT my image- Property of KidKraft. Click the link for more details.

The townhouse is four stories high with six rooms (a formal living room, kitchen, bath, master bedroom, home office, and exercise room). Like the previous two, this home has an elevator and attached garage. It also has a patio off the formal living room and a small balcony on the top floor. The townhouse features lights and sounds and modern features throughout. Check out the staircase, and the silver shutters open and close. It comes furnished with 25 pieces of stylish furniture.

The couple has seen 3 houses within their price range. Now, it’s time for them to discuss their options.

What did you think about that first house? (Bella)

My favorite thing about that one was the backyard area. You know how I love to grill, and it would be nice having a pool. (Steven)

Yes, but the pool worries me a bit with Kenzie being so young. I like the way it was decorated. (Bella)

I don’t have anything against pink, but I don’t want to be surrounded by it. That house had pink walls, pink furniture, pink rugs…and don’t get me started on all that bling… (Steven)

*Laughing* You are right about the sparkle. I’ll bet the doorbell even goes “bling bling” instead of “ding dong.” (Bella)

So, how about the second house? It was a lot easier on the eyes. (Steven)

The second house was really nice with its wide windows. I’ve always dreamed of having a sunroom like that. Plus, it was the only house we saw with a move-in ready bedroom for Kenzie. (Bella)

That’s true. The ceiling in that nursery was pretty low, though. (Steven)

The third house had that upstairs office that we could turn into a second bedroom. Neither of us needs a home office. (Bella)

True, but I don’t know how I feel about Kenzie having access to a balcony from her bedroom. I do know that the exercise room on the second floor would get plenty of use. (Steven)

So, which did they choose…option 1: the bedazzled mansion with lots of pink and a pool… option 2: the roomy, move-in ready, traditional home… or option 3: the townhouse with all the modern bells and whistles?

We chose…Option TWO, the majestic mansion! The listing price was $159, but our marvelous agent helped us get it for $129. We are all moved in and loving our new home!

The real life back story is that these were the top contenders when I was trying to choose the dollhouse that Daddy would buy Mara for Christmas this year. I was all set to order from Amazon, but then I saw that it was on rollback at Walmart for $30 less than Amazon. Mara decided on Christmas day that the Smiths would get the new house since she’d already given the bookcase townhouse to Barbie and her family. You will see in next week’s mini tour of Dollton that the house occupies almost an entire wall of the doll room.

Thanks for reading & Happy New Year!