Hanging Out With Barbie In Los Angeles
Every little girl loves a Barbie doll. Some little girls, however, never quite outgrow their obsession with the terminally-smiley, impossibly-proportioned toy. Just think about those weirdos who spend thousands on surgery to look as bombastic and plastic to mimic Barbie’s oversized bosom and teeny-tiny waist. On the other hand, not ever grown-up who loves Barbie is strange. Take, for example, 43-year-old Nicole Sassaman.
This is one kind of Barbie dream home. Nicole Sassaman’s is something else entirely.
Sassaman’s love affair with Barbie began when she was little. The doll was a friend she could turn to in the face of a tough childhood. Today, Sassaman’s love for her childhood toy has informed the decor of her Los Angeles penthouse – a home that was last owned by Barbara Segal, the real-life namesake for Barbie. Her parents, Elliot and Ruth Handler, founded the Mattel company and created Barbie in the 1950s. Today, the unit is a shrine to not just Sassaman’s love for Barbie, but impeccable taste as well.
Lest you think that “the Barbie house” is some kind of luridly pink and bedizened nightmare, know that it has all the trappings of an elegant and well-appointed penthouse – a custom kitchen with a show-stopping $58,000 range, a glass-encased wine cellar, tasteful chandeliers, and bathrooms that would make a spa patron swoon with envy. Barbie is definitely a presence, though. A life-sized Barbie mannequin greets visitors inside the front door, dressed and accessorized according to the weather and season. An immense holographic picture of the doll is the focal point in the living room. There’s a Barbie photo booth that makes guests look like a doll in a box on a shelf. Sassaman’s young daughter has a room themed all around Barbie. And there’s even a ready stash of boxed Barbie dolls that Sassaman hands out to visitors.
The home is located in Century Towers, on the exclusive Avenue of the Stars. Sassaman estimates that she renovated just about every square inch of the home, including raising ceilings and removing walls. The result is more than just a tribute to a doll – it’s an altogether enviable domecile, luxurious and grand, that just so happens to have a theme over which most little girls would go gaga.
