Several years ago, Logan and Lissette Fullmer decided to take a financial flyer by buying a rundown property in an up-and-coming neighborhood and turning it into a wild and wacky adult playhouse.
“We were in a place in our lives that was just kind of like, let’s do it,” said Lissette who, along with Logan, owns the real estate company Asset Resolution Partners. “It’s been fun.”
The couple bought the 100-year-old Craftsman-style bungalow located in the heart of Government Hill in 2018, just as the neighborhood transformation wave was beginning to swell.
“We got a good deal, but we also knew what was happening in the area because our office used to be just a few blocks from here,” Logan said.
After letting the house sit for several years, they recently completed a $200,000, down-to-the-studs renovation that included installing all-new electric, plumbing, insulation, heating and air conditioning systems. They also built an addition that included a new bedroom and bath, upping the home’s size from 1,250 to 1,600 square feet. It now has three bedrooms and two and a half bathrooms.
The back sitting room sports a wall of graffiti hearts, making it so far-out it would make Austin Powers growl, “Yeah, baby!”
Kin Man Hui/Staff photographerWhile the eye-catching black facade and pink front door make the house look like nothing else in the neighborhood, it’s the Instagram-ready interiors that stand out. From the pink neon signs reading “Love is sweet” and “You’re just too good to be true” to the wall of colorful graffiti hearts, the house is so groovy it would make Austin Powers growl, “Yeah, baby!”
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The home’s black-and-pink color palette begins right at the front door.
Kin Man Hui/Staff photographer
“Everywhere you turn you find something different and unexpected,” Logan said. “It’s exciting.”
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Indeed, the far-out furnishing and fixtures are so distinctive they nicknamed the place the Barbie House and have placed images of the little fashion icon throughout, including a reproduction of the original, black-and-white bathing suit-wearing doll that stands watch in one room.
The couple say they don’t plan to live in the house; with four children under 12 it’s much too small. Instead, they use it for business and personal events. Lissette threw several “Pinkmas” parties in December and celebrated Galentine’s Day with friends in February. They’ve had family and friends stay overnight and, at the moment, they’re readying the house to list on Airbnb.
Homeowners Logan and Lissette Fullmer don’t plan to live in the house. Instead, they use it for company events and personal parties.
Kin Man Hui/Staff photographerThe house should fit right in with the recent trend that has seen short-term rentals becoming more individualistic and unique. One can easily imagine the TikTok videos as bachelorette, birthday and other party groups heading out to the Pearl or any of the many other neighborhood restaurants and bars that have recently sprung up.
“People like rentals like the Barbie House because they get a fun place to stay and a lot of really cool content for their social media accounts,” Logan said.
To transform the ramshackle house, the couple hired Melody Patrick from San Antonio-based Forty Degrees North, giving her carte blanche to do whatever she wants to make the place pop.
“We knew that with Lissette and Logan’s plans to use the Barbie House as an Airbnb, we could have more fun with the color palette,” said Patrick who works closely with Lissette on the project. “It’s not something they have to live with every day, so we could make it bolder, more memorable.”
Still, they knew they had to walk a fine line to avoid making it so cutesy it would turn off anyone who didn’t grow up dreaming of living in a Malibu beach house.
“You don’t want people to come in and say, ‘Oh, my god,’ ” Lissette said. “You want them to think, this would be a fun place to hang out in.”
While there’s plenty of pink throughout the house, for example, it’s not a girly-girl pink. Instead it’s a subtle, even manly shade of pink.
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“It’s masculine enough that, if we don’t have such a big family, I’d live in it,” Logan said.
Each room is decorated differently. This jack-and-jill bathroom is painted a juicy lime.
Kin Man Hui/Staff photographerStewart used plenty of other colors as well, popping them in here and there for a dramatic effect. The walls of the Jack-and-Jill bathroom, for example, are a juicy lime green, while the vintage, midcentury modern chairs in the dining room are dyed a bright teal. In the back sitting room she placed a red-topped cowhide ottoman and red throw pillows to complement the wall of graffitied hearts.
Even the kitchen — with its white cabinets, black-and-white checkered floor and gray and white quartz countertops — exudes personality. The cabinet door handles and drawer pulls are a not-overly feminine pink, for example, and a brick chimney they believe was part of the original stove is painted gold.
She also took advantage of some of the home’s unique features, such as the brick fireplace in the front room that she spray painted to look like a gang of taggers had their way with it. And she added a large Nutcracker statue she found at Sam’s Club.
A large, custom painted Nutcracker stands guard in the front room
Kin Man Hui/Staff photographer“Everyone on Instagram had this Nutcracker, but he was green and black and red, very basic,” Lissette said. “Melody painted it herself and turned it into this beautiful, one-of-a-kind piece.”
Still, Logan notes, none of these hip design elements are so permanent they cannot be undone.
“If someone bought this place and hated the look, they could get rid of all the wildness and the radicalness and tone everything down for about $2,000,” Logan said. “All it would take is some new hardware and paint.”
[email protected] | Twitter: @RichardMarini
