Taking the Friends out of LEGO Friends 42639 Andrea’s Modern Mansion 

42639 Andrea’s Modern Mansion has a lot to offer right out of the box, but a minor transformation can make it relevant to more than just LEGO Friends collectors.

It’s no secret that LEGO Friends 42639 Andrea’s Modern Mansion is a stellar set offering something that we’ve never seen in LEGO before, or at least never anywhere near this scale. You can find out more about everything it brings to the table as default in our in-depth review.

That said, LEGO Friends’ usual assortment of bright colours aren’t to everyone’s tastes and while they’re more muted in the 2024 model, they might still be a bit distracting to some or less than ideal for a non-LEGO Friends display. There’s only one solution – to remove the theme from the model (to a certain degree).

Thankfully, it’s easy and inexpensive to swap the hues of pink, orange and yellow to match the aesthetic of the rest of the build. The interior serves as an amazing foundation for a makeover too. We’ve put together a guide and tour on how to transform the exterior and interior, taking LEGO Friends out of 42639 Andrea’s Modern Mansion.

Transforming 42639 Andrea’s Modern Mansion exterior

The modern architecture, overall colour palette and blend of nature in 42639 Andrea’s Modern Mansion make for an incredible foundation. It’s just that the bright colours and rainbow aesthetic are somewhat distracting, despite being perfect for LEGO Friends. For something closer to a Los Angeles mansion, simply swap out the bright colours on the frame for white pieces.

It might look like a tricky task but the simplistic yet endearing foundations of 42639 Andrea’s Modern Mansion‘s exterior make this job easier than expected. All of the colourful tiles and arches can be removed easily with a brick separator. Substitute these for the same pieces (or similar elements to save money as outlined in the parts list further down) and you’ll immediately notice the changes.

Continuing the transformation, the rainbow garage door panels in front of the huge windows featured in 42639 Andrea’s Modern Mansion add a lot to the overall design, bringing a dynamic feel to what is otherwise a suitably simple, modern exterior.

These can be removed by taking off the frames entirely and swapping the panels for transparent pieces of a different colour. The frames can then be added once more to finish this stage of the makeover. We’d recommend making sure that the garage panels are level as the set is designed to just barely fit them in and you might struggle to reattach the frames if they’re slightly in the wrong place. It’s not a difficult job but it’s worth checking by placing the upper or lower frame and making sure that the panels are as close to it as they can go.

Another minor change that you might choose to integrate concerns the infinity pool. A bright yellow clip is used in 42639 Andrea’s Modern Mansion to hold the ladder in place but we’ve opted for a bright blue version of this element to match the colour of the pool. This change is a lot more subjective though it helps the overall appearance of the exterior.

The garage is by far the most challenging part of this transformation, but only for those who are choosing to make these changes once you’ve built the official 42639 Andrea’s Modern Mansion model. Those undertaking this transformation from scratch will just need to swap out any yellow, orange or pink pieces for white versions of them. It sounds more challenging than it is when building the set from scratch and the modified appearance is noticeable.

Those who have already built 42639 Andrea’s Modern Mansion and want to transform the set in our suggested way will have a tougher, but still approachable time changing the garage.

Most of the yellow pieces up top can be swapped by simply removing them from the finished build. Next, you’ll need to place the mansion with the front of the model facing down and peel the plate that is connected to the garage away carefully. This should allow you to work from the bottom and change the necessary pieces accordingly. Doing this may result in the mechanism for the ramp coming off but it can be inserted back into the build during this process without any major issues. The grey ramp will need to be removed too, but this is easy to reattach afterwards.

Once you’ve swapped out everything, carefully place the plate back on, flip the mansion upright and let its weight attach the build to the plate properly. Apply a small amount of pressure to ensure it is attached securely too. This process will only be relevant for those who have already built the mansion and it’s much easier to integrate these changes when starting from scratch.

Here’s a comprehensive parts list for everything we did to transform the exterior of 42639 Andrea’s Modern Mansion, with every piece purchased on Pick a Brick.

Image	LEGO piece	Part number	Design Number	Quantity	Price (per piece)
	FLAT TILE 1X4	243101	2431	26	£0.11 / $0.12 / €0.12
	FLAT TILE 1X2	306901	3069	2	£0.06 / $0.07 / €0.07
	FLAT TILE 1X6	663601	6636	2	£0.12 / $0.13 / €0.13
	FLAT TILE 1X1	307001	3070	2	£0.05 / $0.06 / €0.06
	PLATE 2X6	379501	3795	2	£0.17 / $0.19 / €0.19
	PLATE 2X4	302001	3020	2	£0.12 / $0.14 / €0.14
	FLAT TILE 2X4	4560178	87079	2	£0.13 / $0.16 / €0.15
	FLAT TILE 2X2	306801	3068	1	£0.07 / $0.08 / €0.07
	BRICK 1X6	300901	3009	1	£0.22 / $0.25 / €0.25
	BRICK 1X4	301001	3010	6	£0.13 / $0.16 / €0.15
	BRICK 1X2	300401	3004	10	£0.10 / $0.10 / €0.11
	PLATE 1X3	362301	3623	6	£0.06 / $0.07 / €0.07
	GARAGE PANEL	6271641	40672	12	£0.19 / $0.22 / €0.21
	GLASS FOR FRAME 1X2X3	6252313	35287	3	£0.12 / $0.14 / €0.14
	BRICK 1X1X3 1/3, W/ ARCH	6185956	30935	4	£0.28 / $0.31 / €0.31
	PLATE 1X2 W/HOLDER, VERTICAL	6337269	30935	1	£0.13 / $0.15 / €0.15
				Total price	£10.48 / $11.10 / €11.67

Click here for a full list of the interior parts on Pick a Brick, ready to select the quantities and add them to your order.

Transforming 42639 Andrea’s Modern Mansion interior

The interior of 42639 Andrea’s Modern Mansion is a lot more subjective than the exterior and many of our changes may not apply to what you want out of the mansion. As such, we’ve provided a separate parts list from the interior to at least inspire you. The inside and furnishings of 42639 Andrea’s Modern Mansion use a similarly bright palette of colours that is more than suitable for LEGO Friends. Thankfully, the scale is ideal for LEGO minifigures as it is with mini-dolls and in some cases, minifigures work better.

Starting in the basement’s music studio, we’ve used a brick separator to peel away the pink from the floor, the shelf and the bed while retaining the pull-out bed feature. The bed just so happens to fit minifigures better than mini-dolls too. The pink windows on the edge of the pool work for our transformation of the music studio into a gaming space as backlighting for the monitor. You can change these by switching them out while putting together the mansion as they are an integral part of the foundations.

We’ve added various decorations in place of Andrea’s record and other items using spare parts from 10323 PAC-MAN Arcade and 71799 NINJAGO City Markets (not included in the parts list). We’ve also used the blue cushion from the children’s bedroom in place of the neon green stool. The decor is ultimately up to you, but modifying the floor and larger furniture makes a huge difference and a good starting point.

While most of this transformation can be done without taking apart the foundations of the build, those approaching this makeover with a finished 42639 Andrea’s Modern Mansion will have an extra step to take unlike those starting from scratch.

Similar to how we described in our exterior transformation for the garage, peel away the baseplate beneath the music studio and replace every pink tile with one of your preferred colours (brown in our case). The edge of the bed can be easily switched out without taking apart the foundation by pulling the bed forward.

Doing this may result in some of the pool’s foundations coming off but this should work in your favour, helping you guide the plate back into position. Flip the mansion upright and let the weight of the build and a small amount of pressure attach the plate securely and this step is done. A custom gaming chair embracing some of the LEGO Friends colour scheme completes this section of the mansion’s makeover and we’ve added this to the parts list as it works better for minifigures than the green stool.

The kitchen, while small, doesn’t need many modifications to make it more applicable. We’ve opted to switch out the pink bricks and the floor, both of which are simple and easy to change.

The floor need only be peeled away using a brick separator but the cabinet and sink area will require you to gently lift the ceiling above it until there is just enough of a gap to remove this subassembly, swap the brick and put it back. Do not remove the upper floor entirely as it is not necessary; you just need a big enough gap to take the cabinet section out.

Ensure that the upper floor is back in place securely and it’s a significant transformation for another room in 42639 Andrea’s Modern Mansion.

Moving upstairs, the main bedroom is brightly coloured and we’ve decided to mostly stick with this colour scheme and the furnishings. Aside from the mirror, everything here can be removed and easily changed. Swap the mirror with some art and this room could become anything with ease. That’s a trend for almost everything upstairs, offering incredible foundations for your creations.

Our suggested changes include taking the pastel colours off the bed and swapping the table below the mirror to have a gold surface instead for a more lavish feel.

The hall between the bedroom and the children’s room upstairs features many references to the original cast of LEGO Friends and Andrea’s life in 42639 Andrea’s Modern Mansion.

For this makeover, we’ve swapped out the photo collage for some brickwork and modern custom artwork integrated into masonry. The five-stud wide space offers plenty of possibilities for other designs though. Similar to the kitchen, lift the roof carefully, remove the wall structure and switch the assembly before pushing everything back into place to change this section.

The floor, while brightly-coloured, has an interesting build that doesn’t clash as much as other parts of the mansion in our opinion and we’ve kept it in our version of 42639 Andrea’s Modern Mansion. It’s easy to swap the floor should you wish to opt for a different design or colour scheme though. Simply peel it away with a brick separator and change it as you see fit.

The children’s bedroom and bathroom are the final rooms to transform and we decided to keep the bathroom exactly as it is. It’s not as easy to reach into this space and change anything and equally, it’s an essential room for minifigures and mini-dolls alike.

The remainder of the children’s area has undergone a complete transformation, taking away all furnishings and inserting a home gym instead. Weights on the wall are in place of the old shelves and most of the space is taken up by a treadmill based on felix.rebricks’ free design on Rebrickable. This area can be similarly customised completely as almost everything is only attached to the floor ready to be removed.

There’s no doubt that the interior of 42639 Andrea’s Modern Mansion is ripe for personalisation and ideally scaled with minifigures and mini-dolls. Unlike the exterior, many of our suggested changes are down to personal taste – but those wishing to take some inspiration from our interior makeover can find the full parts list below. This does not include spare printed pieces from other sets but these are only minor decorations that can be left alone or swapped for something else.

Image	LEGO piece	Part number	Design Number	Quantity	Price (per piece)
	FLAT TILE 1X4	6102998	2431	2	£0.11 / $0.12 / €0.12
	FLAT TILE 1X1	6177146	3070	1	£0.05 / $0.06 / €0.06
	FLAT TILE 1X2	6021997	3069	1	£0.06 / $0.07 / €0.07
	PLATE 2X2 W 1 KNOB	6102994	87580	2	£0.08 / $0.10 / €0.10
	FLAT TILE 2X2	6102990	3068	1	£0.07 / $0.08 / €0.07
	PLATE 1X6	4221590	3666	1	£0.12 / $0.14 / €0.14
	BRICK 1X6	4211193	3009	1	£0.22 / $0.25 / €0.25
	PLATE 1X2 W. 1 HORIZONTAL SNAP	6313116	65458	3	£0.12 / $0.14 / €0.14
	FLAT TILE 1X1, 1/2 CIRCLE	6293402	35399	5	£0.04 / $0.04 / €0.04
	PLATE 1X1 ROUND W/3.2 SHAFT	6157554	26047	1	£0.07 / $0.08 / €0.07
	PLATE 2X2 ROUND	403226	4032	1	£0.06 / $0.06 / €0.06
	PLATE 1X2 W. STICK 3.18	4225201	48336	1	£0.06 / $0.07 / €0.07
	PLATE 1X2 W/HOLDER, VERTICAL	6310268	49563	1	£0.13 / $0.15 / €0.15
	PLATE 2X6	4518687	3795	1	£0.17 / $0.19 / €0.19
	BRICK 1X1X1 2/3, W/ VERT. KNOBS	6201911	32952	2	£0.10 / $0.09 / €0.11
	PROFILE BRICK 1×4 SINGLE GRO.	6232136	15533	2	£0.17 / $0.20 / €0.20
	TILE 2X2, W/ DEG. 45 CUT	6217875	35787	6	£0.07 / $0.08 / €0.08
	WHEEL AXLE Ø8.2/Ø1.9	249626	2496	2	£0.13 / $0.15 / €0.15
	LIGHT SWORD SHAFT	4598897	64567	2	£0.05 / $0.05 / €0.05
	TECHNIC 5M BEAM	4142135	32316	2	£0.17 / $0.19 / €0.19
	CONNECTOR PEG W. FRICTION	6279875	61332	2	£0.06 / $0.06 / €0.06
	BRICK 1X1 W. 1 KNOB	4558953	87087	3	£0.08 / $0.10 / €0.11
	HANDLEBAR W/3.2 SHAFT/BAR ENDS	4644102	98397	1	£0.12 / $0.14 / €0.14
	PLATE 1X2	4211398	3023	1	£0.06 / $0.07 / €0.07
	PL.ROUND 1X1 W. THROUGHG. HOLE	6168647	28626	1	£0.04 / $0.04 / €0.04
	PLATE 1X2 W. 1 KNOB	6066097	15573	1	£0.05 / $0.06 / €0.06
	PLATE 1X2 W/HOLDER, VERTICAL	6337268	49563	1	£0.13 / $0.15 / €0.15
	T-PIECE	4211508	4697	1	£0.08 / $0.09 / €0.10
	CONNECTOR PEG W. KNOB	4211483	4274	4	£0.04 / $0.04 / €0.05
	PLATE 1X1 W. UP RIGHT HOLDER	6308012	44842	1	£0.11 / $0.12 / €0.12
	PROFILE BRICK 1×4 SINGLE GRO.	6055309	15533	4	£0.17 / $0.20 / €0.20
	PROFILE BRICK 1×2 SINGLE GRO.	4656783	98283	6	£0.12 / $0.14 / €0.13
	BRICK 1X1	300523	3005	2	£0.06 / $0.07 / €0.07
	BRICK 1X1	300521	3005	3	£0.06 / $0.07 / €0.07
	PLATE 2X3	6035540	3021	1	£0.11 / $0.13 / €0.13
	PLATE 1X2 W. 1 KNOB	6092594	15573	1	£0.05 / $0.06 / €0.06
	PLATE 2X6	4550329	3795	1	£0.17 / $0.19 / €0.19
	BRICK 1X4	6001822	3010	1	£0.13 / $0.16 / €0.15
	TILE 2X6	6381921	69729	5	£0.19 / $0.18 / €0.21
	PLATE 1X6	6295464	3666	1	£0.12 / $0.14 / €0.14
	PLATE 1×2 W. 2 SHAFTS ø 3.2	6099483	18649	1	£0.10 / $0.12 / €0.12
	FLAT TILE 2X2	6054406	3068	1	£0.07 / $0.08 / €0.07
	PLATE 2X2, W/ REDUCED KNOBS	6293401	33909	1	£0.05 / $0.06 / €0.06
	PLATE 1X4, W/ 2 KNOBS, NO. 2	6257604	41740	2	£0.06 / $0.07 / €0.07
	PLATE 1X2, W/ 1 KNOB	6132424	15573	4	£0.05 / $0.06 / €0.06
	PLATE 1X1 W. UP RIGHT HOLDER	6438975	44842	4	£0.11 / $0.10 / €0.12
	ROOF TILE 1X2X2/3, NO. 21	6329152	73784	1	£0.37 / $0.43 / €0.43
	FLAT TILE 1X6	6185309	6636	2	£0.12 / $0.13 / €0.13
	BRICK 1X1	6452907	3005	2	£0.06 / $0.06 / €0.07
	PLATE 2X2 W 1 KNOB	6186383	23893	1	£0.06 / $0.07 / €0.07
	1/2 CIRCLE PLATE 2X6	6167854	18980	2	£0.16 / $0.18 / €0.18
				Total price	£10.03 / $11.15 / €11.42

Click here for the full list of the interior parts on Pick a Brick, ready to select the quantities and add them to your order.

Whether you want to change the interior, exterior or both, this transformation will cost as little as £10.48 / $11.10 / €11.67 for the outside on Pick a Brick or £20.51 / $22.25 / €23.09 for everything at the time of writing. That’s not including service fees and we opted to pick up some extra pieces for other projects to remove those (which requires a minimum order of £10 per basket, for both Standard and Bestseller pieces) and save money overall. That’s on top of £169.99 / $199.99 / €199.99 for the set itself.

While some LEGO sets almost require a little tinkering to look the part, 42639 Andrea’s Modern Mansion is fantastic right out of the box, and our transformation speaks only to the incredible foundations that the official set provides. The LEGO Friends design team has done an exemplary job of summarising how the theme has evolved since its debut while offering something entirely new for the LEGO portfolio. You can find out more and read our main review by clicking here.

But the modified version of the set has its merits: not only does it broaden the build’s appeal to a wider audience while maintaining the core design concepts of the original model, it also still manages to grab your attention while blending in better on a shelf. Whether you prefer mini-dolls or minifigures to live in the transformed mansion, 42639 Andrea’s Modern Mansion and all the necessary parts are available now at Pick a Brick.

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