The Place: The Barbie Pond on Avenue Q
Where: Q Street between 15th and 14th
Why Live Here: You have a love for all things irreverent, kitschy, and campy, and love having a daily reminder that DC isn’t just all politics and has some really creative and funny dwellers.
Things to Know: If you’ve lived in Logan Circle for some time, you probably know about the Barbie Pond on Q, and if you don’t, you’ve been missing out. Every season and especially during holidays, rows of Barbies and Kens decorate the front yard of this Logan townhouse while dressed in celebratory garb (or sometimes in no clothes at all).
The curator, who prefers to remain anonymous but who agreed to speak with me (!!!!!) let me know some fun and lesser known tidbits about the Pond: The owner conceived of the idea to create the Barbie Pond after a neighbor (and friend) left a creepy doll’s head on his front yard 4 years ago. Since then, he and his two friends, all grown men, envision and assemble a new pond theme. There are around 100 dolls that they use, many of which are actually cake toppers because no, the curator does not sit in his house and hack apart dolls. They have only repeated one scene – the Barbies for Labor Day – because the Instagram handle hadn’t yet been created for the first go around so the creator did it again a few years later for all to see.
Fun anecdote: I was tickled barbie pink when the owner of the Barbie Pond told me that he loves what I’m doing on the Places and Spaces DC website! Woo hoo! I guess us DC creative types can all play in this pond together.
Spaces on the Market: