To celebrate the theatrical release of writer-director Greta Gerwig’s “Barbie,” the folks at the San Francisco-based vacation rental site have again transformed an oceanfront Malibu mansion into a life-sized Barbie Dreamhouse. This time, though, Ken’s apparently got the keys to the kingdom (the “Kendom,” as Ken says in the listing — but we just can’t), and he’s handing them over to a couple guests this month.

How to book the Barbie Dreamhouse

Only two bookings at this Barbie Malibu Dreamhouse are available, each for a single night, and you’ll have to be as quick as the Dina Asher-Smith Barbie to grab one. Bookings open on Monday, July 17 at 10 a.m. Pacific, for the two stays, which are scheduled for July 21 and July 22. Each stay is free of charge, but Airbnb says booking will be on a first come, first served basis. There’s no contest to win, you’ve just got to be one of the fast-fingered few to book at airbnb.com/kendreamhouse when the listing goes live.

Like the doll herself, the Barbie Dreamhouse has changed plenty over the years. Her first home, designed in 1962, was a one-room bachelorette pad made of folded cardboard. Over the years, her digs would expand into a range of styles and sizes, from Painted Lady-style Victorians and A-frame chalets, to colonnaded mansions and fairytale castles.

What’s inside the Barbie Malibu Dreamhouse

The Barbie Malibu Dreamhouse on Airbnb is slightly bigger than the ones you’ll find at the toy store: a three-level hillside compound. It sits just above the Pacific Coast Highway, with palm-fringed views of El Sol County Beach and the glistening Pacific Ocean beyond. Taking inspiration from those classic Mattel toys that have been living rent-free in our heads for generations, this Barbie Airbnb is loaded with the plastic aesthetic, exaggerated architecture and cotton-candy palette many have grown up loving (and just as many have grown up resenting).

With Barbiecore styling through the roof, this fuchsia fantasy’s got all the campy features you’d expect in a self-respecting Barbie Dreamhouse. On the first floor, the bedroom is a gloriously pink suite that opens to the backyard, infinity pool, outdoor kitchen and fire pit. One floor up, on a wraparound terrace, you’ll find an open-air dance floor, complete with a disco ball, DJ booth and a waterslide curving down to the pool deck. Climb higher to the penthouse level to find an outdoor gym, table tennis, basketball and chill space, all with views from Santa Monica to the Channel Islands.

Every space is seemingly designed to be light, fun, silly and very on-brand for Barbie. Cheeky touches throughout show that Ken’s been crashing here.

For example, near an outdoor weight bench sits a hulking barrel of Beefy Body Brine (which the slogan claims to be, “The manly man’s meal”). In the hot-pink wardrobe hangs a varsity jacket emblazoned with a K and a slew of Ken’s beach-ready outfits. There’s a dirt bike’s parked on a balcony and, scattered throughout this Barbie Malibu Dreamhouse is an array of rodeo accoutrements, like cowboy hats, animal hides and a life-size horse. (Apparently, 2023’s Ken has acquired a love of the Wild West and nests with antlers and pelts. We’ll have to watch the movie to find out what’s up there).

Suffice it to say that Kencore — if that’s even a thing yet — is present and accounted for.

Dreamhouse rental tied to the ‘Barbie’ movie

Trailers and teasers for the “Barbie” movie hint at a plot in which Margot Robbie’s practically perfect title character begins to see the cracks in the built-for-her world of Barbie Land. Ryan Gosling’s Ken is her lovably vain goofball of a boyfriend who’s along for the ride as Barbie explores life beyond her plastic home.

Unsurprisingly, the Barbie Airbnb listing is packed with Easter eggs that tie into details that have been spotted in trailers for the film. From Barbie’s sky-high marabou stilettos and Ken’s neon in-line skates (“I literally go nowhere without them,” he says in one clip), to Barbie’s round clamshell bed and his-and-her surfboards painted in sweet-shop shades, it’s chock full of cheeky touches.

There is a catch in the fine print

While the listing is packed with whimsy, it’s not without a few immersion-breaking disappointments when you dig into the fine print. First off, “a strict ‘no-parties’ policy” feels like a ruthless tease when the listing is promoted with images of an outdoor dance floor and massive pool. But the most un-Ken disclaimers of them all are that the waterslide is just for looks and Rollerblading is strictly prohibited on the property. Each stay is also limited to two guests only, who will only have access to one private bedroom and the common areas within the Dreamhouse, which include the pool, outdoor lounge spaces and grilling area.

Airbnb is no stranger to the fanciful PR stunt. We’ve seen the company promote anniversaries and premieres with well-timed stays made available at headline-grabbing locales. Past promos have included stays in the “Scooby-Doo” gang’s Mystery Machine, the Tomales home featured in the original “Scream,” and the monstrous Chicagoland home of the McCallister family from “Home Alone.”

If the phony waterslide isn’t a deal breaker, and you want to make your inner 5-year-old proud, you’ll want to mark your calendar now for 10 a.m. on July 17 to try and bag this coveted Barbie Malibu Dreamhouse stay.

This story was edited by Hearst Newspapers Associate Editor Clint Davis; you can contact him at [email protected].