Review: 41428 Beach House

Welcome to the Beach House!

Mia, "Hey Andrea, snap a pic of that baby Dolphin leaping!"  Andrea, "Sure, after I get one of that pretty Flamingo on the dock!"

Box front shows this Beach House on an island beyond HLC's downtown and the BFF Heart inset is standard, so we know this isn't part of a sub-theme. Although this wave has a "Vacay with Friends" theme.
The lower left inset shows the roof can flip up for a rooftop music stage. Mia and Andrea's cameo insets are framed in purple doodle circles. The flanges are standard.


Box back has lots of vacation activities at the beach. Even though the title isn't "Andrea's Beach House" and they arrive at the same time, Andrea gets the top right box feature.

Box top has brick collage, a photo scene, and fun elements featured with Mia. Andrea is the 1:1 parts ratio model on this set.


Box sides: LEGO Life ad and brick collage on one, and our scene slice on the other.


Box contents: Instructions book, stickers, yellow tile/plate with smooth and 3 sides of studs, tan base plate. and 4 numbered bags of parts.


Bag 1 parts: Flamingo is new for this 2020 summer wave. The Lime green suitcase is not new, yet otherwise only in a Trolls and City Train sets.


Inner bags of bag 1: One new torso and lots of great parts!


Mia has a lovely pale yellow halter top with a lime green leafy pattern that has some berries. Trimmed in dark purple with neck straps tying behind her neck -- it is wonderful! This is exactly like a top I used to wear :-)
Her dark Lilac cargo shorts and dark azure sneakers round out her outfit, plus looks great with her green eyes. We giver her the roller suitcase and camera for her vacation stay at the Beach House.


Andrea is wearing the same dark blue, teal and gold trimmed top with music note embroidery as 41384 Andrea's Summer Heart Box, and same white skirt with gold mesh flip-flops as 41374 Andrea's Pool Party. The back detail shows the zig-zag lattice trim goes all around, and the top has 2 straps -- one ties.
She's carrying a magenta overnight bag, a phone, and wearing magenta headset. Instructions tell us to have the new Flamingo with her ... so now you see the size comparison.


Here is a close up of the new Flamingo.


Sticker are full of color and beachy stuff -- so much to look at! The #16 sticker of blue pirate and pink mermaid goes on the bathroom door -- so cute!


First we build the Paddle Boat -- it's a very sleek and clever design. Not sure what the number "4" has significance to?
The lime 1x1 brick (left by fries) is actually a Juice carton print ... I didn't realize that when I was photographing the parts.


Next, as we start with the house, we build the bathroom -- with orange tiled floor (love) and Clam Shell toilet! Yes! We have a plunger, and "printed" toilet paper on a beach-bleached wooden board sticker.
I see an anchor with a scrolled letter "B" within its design as a hanging piece ... wonder who ...
The rest of that sticker's beach bag and shelf is just so spot on!

You can see parts of the kitchen that opens to the outside is built too.


With all bag 1 parts used, so far we have a finished kitchen and bathroom -- both essential!

The pink shutters open for serving and eating on the beach side. This is everything built from bag 1, plus spares.


Bag 2 parts: Not new, yet we get 4 tan Window Arch Corner bricks (above the white arch) that originated with Harry Potter. They are used in a very clever way in this set!


Inner bags of Bag 2 parts: The tan pyramid tops are awesome!


We get to build a Sand Castle!!! I love it -- and it has a clear bottle on top, just like we do with found glass objects.

The water feature -- as if it's lapping up along the beach is very well done -- even the little fishy stickers and bubbles are nice. The baby Dolphin likes it too!
So glad we get nougat tiles for the otherwise boring brown stairs piece; plus printed cut log tiles to top of the pier poles!
The outdoor dining area has stools and a counter for food. We've hung the surfboard on that white 1x1 with 2 side studs (one of my favorite bricks), and placed a crab on the pink rug under the archway.


The railing is added and topped with pink tiles -- the addition of the white telescope with cheese slope top really give this house a more detailed finish than past. The outdoor shower is a sticker, yet also a trans blue dish that can swivel -- good for rinsing sand off.
Last, but not least -- we build a huge Burger for the counter!
That's all of bag 2 parts, plus a nice amount of spares.


Bag 3 parts: Lots of Aqua! The 1x2x2 wall panels are new in Aqua, and the 1x5x1 columns are only otherwise in 41394 Heartlake City Hospital. Dark orange 2x4 plate (tile) with 2 center studs is new for 2020 and otherwise only in 3 Minecraft sets. Very useful for double jumper usage.


Inner bag parts from Bag 3: Say cheese!


After starting on the upper floor walls, we get to build this bed separate -- it cleverly uses the brown Technic Rotor plate for that nice rounded bed-frame above the 1x1 brown rounds.
Plus, you can see the pirate and mermaid bathroom door sign.


The second bed is a bunk bed that we build, then it's built into the wall.


With the upper floor walls halfway done, we build the desk with Lamp and use sticker #14 on a tile for a Water Park brochure. Then a stool to match the outdoor ones.


Now we've added all the wall bricks and house beam cheese slopes. Before attaching the roof plate, I wanted to show the Map shelf and Flippers box. The beach decor is just great!


With the tan roof plate on top now, you can see the trans clear door and the cheese slopes better. The Teal window frame matches the kitchen window. Very lovely blend of these colors to give it a light and airy nautical feel.
This is all Bag 3 parts added, plus spares.


Bag 4 parts: Palm leaves in this small size are new in Lime green. Hammock fabric print is new and exclusive to this set


Inner bag 4 parts: Sculpted Leaves in Lime green are new for 2020. We get two 1x2 printed keyboards rather than a 1x4.


We've installed a Hammock under a Palm tree, with a table and cup of pink lemonade. Also added is the front facade Heart of pink with leaf and orange flower vacay Logo, which ties the whole house colors together. The roof gets floor lights and an electric piano on a synthesizer base. I wanted to show this before clicking on the final slant roof section. Which has lovely foliage stickers and added new-for-2020 Lime colored sculpted leaves, with orange flowers.
Plus we have 2 side Lanterns for illuminating our night activities.


Welcome to the beach! With the slant roof added via the clips, we have our complete Beach House -- plus spares.


The Hammock fabric is very soft! There have been Friends Hammocks in the past, and they really are fun to connect on the black ball knobs. The first one connected to antennae poles as seen in Beach Hammock polybag #5002113 from 2014.


From the inside of the complete Beach House -- everything is ready for a Vacay with Friends! I like the way the aqua pieces together look like paneled walls inside above the beds. You can see the folded down piano keys on the rooftop music party area. The speakers are on the under-side of the roof panel -- woofers and tweeters!


Mia rests on the hammock while the Flamingo checks out Andrea's bag as she paddles ashore ... just as the baby Dolphin leaps over the Sand Castle!


Later Andrea plays some music on the rooftop electric keyboard with lights flashing. Beach party time! Definitely need more Friends for this fun!
Mmm ... that cheeky Flamingo hopped up the stairs! That crab is relaxing though :-)


Hey, how about some privacy!?! As Mia gets some Lemonade after the rooftop music session, Andrea needs to use the shell toilet ...

You can see they've put their bags in the bedroom, after climbing down the ladder. Since this is a "build-upon" structure, and not modular, we get a way to go to each level.


One more look at everything you need to build for a Beach House vacation! The lovely (and fun to create) pink Heart with orange flower and lime green leaf in the center of the roof-line makes clear this is Friends! It's part of the Heartlake City "Vacay with Friends" theme of this wave.

Summary:

This house is beachy in every aspect -- from the color choice, to the extended roof beams, and ocean side dock. The outside shower is another great aspect, since washing off sand is important before going inside.

The new Flamingo is the perfect "S" shape and quite endearing in person. It's balanced on one leg -- as they do in real life. A baby Dolphin is always fun to see at the beach, however, the Sand Castle takes the prize from me! For the brick pieces used for building it, and being topped with an empty glass bottle -- it's just succinct.

Of course the Paddle Boat is a nice design and change up from usual Jetski. The hammock by the palm tree that can swivel in the ocean breeze isn't just a nice play feature -- it really adds to the overall look of a true beach house.

I love all the aqua with white and yellow. Having a few highlights of Teal window frames and pink railing allows this build to have many colors, yet feel cohesive. Since beach houses are known for blending lots of these bright and "sun-washed" colors together, I'd recommend this set for any AFOL who enjoys seaside spots. Maybe display it on a shelf in your own beach house?  This will also look super in any LEGO watery layout. The way the slopes create lapping water will be easy to seamlessly connect to other blue water features.

The rooftop slant design with a party area underneath is a classic Friends aspect and I love it! Not only is it great for play, it's good for learning new techniques for slant roof building styles in LEGO form.  The first Friends beach house was very popular and was available for years -- I imagine this one will be too!

 Disclaimer:
This set was provided by The LEGO Group for the purpose of sharing set details with fans.
Opinions provided here solely reflect those of our reviewer.
Photographs are property of Friends Bricks and are not directed by TLG in any fashion.

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