The Pink House
04/07
Check out this great article from AL.com about the Burlingame’s Pink House at The Waters! It’s certainly the cutest little house we’ve ever seen.
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It took Debbie Burlingame 24 hours to buy a lot in the Waters community in Pike Road, Alabama.
The Mississippi native and her Air Force husband have lived all over, but when they were looking to a place to retire to, the Montgomery area caught their attention — it was not only near Maxwell Air Force Base, but it was near her family in the Magnolia State.
And when they saw the Waters community in nearby Pike Road in 2006, they immediately fell in love. “We just thought it looked like a miniature Seaside (Florida),” she said.
So they bought land there, then built a house. There was only one problem: there weren’t many rental vacation homes in the community for people who wanted to stay there a night or two.
But she solved that problem when her neighbor put his 900-square foot cottage on the market. It was located next door to her home, so she bought it, and then the Pink House was born.
And the cool thing? You can spend a few nights (or weeks) at the Pink House, which is available via Airbnb. (See the listing here.) Here are five reasons Burlingame says you should stay there:
It’s like a ‘fantasy dollhouse’
Since she bought the cottage, Burlingame has had a blast redecorating it and fixing it up. “I just wanted to create a place that would make me happy,” she says.
And what makes her happy? Well, pink, obviously. “For some reason I had a vision in my mind,” she says. “I wanted to call it the pink house, so we painted it pink.”
And it’s not just the outside of the home. There are plenty of pink details inside the cottage, as well — and lots of flamingo details.
“It’s just really fantasy dollhouse, kind of prissy,” she continues. “Kind of like a playhouse.”
The community is ‘like Mayberry’
Burlingame loves loving in the Waters community and says that it’s a friendly place.
“What’s interesting about my neighborhood is that it’s populated by people who want to live in an old-fashioned way,” she says. “I’d say I know 85 percent of everyone in my neighborhood by name and I know their dog’s name and their cat.”
And she says the neighborhood is so tight that she knows that someone would be there if there were an emergency — and she can back that up with evidence.
“While I was out of town about nine months ago, a person staying in my pink house, who was actually a neighbor … posted a brief desperate cry about a plumbing emergency,” Burlingame says. “(It said), ‘Help! The Pink House! Plumbing emergency!’ And what had happened was a little boy had pulled the handle off the sink in the bathroom and water was shooting up. She had five grown men with toolboxes arrive at the house within five minutes.”
She pauses, then laughs and says, “It really is Mayberry. I’m Aunt Bea, by the way.”
It has all the amenities you need
No matter what you’re in the cottage for, Burlingame can pretty much guarantee that you’ll find what you’re looking for — and if not, she’ll find it.
“(The Pink House had some) guests from Australia,” she says. “I put some things in there to give them a feel of home. I put some Vegemite in there. (laughs) I think it’s horrible but they enjoyed it very much.”
You may see some adorable animals
When the weather’s nice outside, many of the Pink House guests walk next door to see Burlingame’s pets — she’s an animal advocate and self-proclaimed cat lady. She has four cats and a rabbit.
It’s the perfect place for a wedding party
Well, obviously. The Pink House does look like a dollhouse come to life, so naturally it’s the perfect place for bridesmaid to stay — or for wedding photos. Burlingame says wedding pictures were taken there just two weeks ago.
Alabama Airbnb Getaways is an occasional series that looks at unique Airbnb listings across the state. Got a suggestion? Email hlaurence@al.com.
