KENT, Wash. — Are you a child — well, now, a grownup — of the 80s? Then you’ll want to check out this radical Airbnb in Kent.
Lisa Trout is the creator — and host — of this Smurfy getaway.
“Well, I'm a child of the 80s. I graduated in the early 90s but I was a kid in the 80s and I feel like I really looked up to all the cool girls with big hair, and the music, and the clothes, and the shoulder pads, and the toys.”
She clearly remembers the purchase that started it all.
“Oh, the Ms. Pac-Man,” she said. “I always knew if I owned a house I wanted to have a Ms. Pac-Man in it.”
That video game snowballed into more — now she’s got one bedroom done in New Kids on the Block (her comment — “What rock stars actually got sheets made out of them? Had to have ‘em.") another bedroom filled with Star Wars, Knight Rider, and some vintage Apple hardware (for playing "Oregon Trail," of course) and a third with the ultimate Barbie Dream House. In the living room, there’s a shelf with hands-on toys like Fischer Price phones and See and Says for kids and adults to play with. There’s a hair crimper hanging in the bathroom. And there’s a payphone that doubles as a guest book. And you know what the number is.
“Eight, six seven five three oh nine…” Trout said.
“I get a lot of people that find it and are 80s junkies and are like, 'Wow, we can't wait to bring our kids and show them what we grew up with!”
Trout's daughter Morgan knows the feeling.
“It’s been pretty crazy to watch it grow. I'm excited I think it's gonna be mine one day,” Morgan laughed.
“I wanted a museum, I tell my daughter if anything ever happens to me just take all this and create an actual museum,” Trout said.
“Honestly I don't really understand most of it,” Morgan said. “Most of the references I don't get but it’s still fun to look at."
The 80s Time Capsule Airbnb is fun to look at. Guests love it. And by inviting us all to relive the decade that brought us both Teddy Ruxpin and Pee-wee Herman, this place is truly a blast from the past.
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