Who is Brooke Fleetwood, the beauty and Airbnb mogul who is often at war with Hudson, WI?
Brooke Fleetwood is not like the other 15,149 residents of Hudson, Wisconsin. On the one hand, there’s its mini empire of themed short-term vacation rentals, including the Pink Castle and the Gothic Castle. Then there’s his pink Mercedes G550 SUV. And her pink paint BB Makeup Cosmetic Bar, located in historic downtown Hudson. Her tens of thousands of social media fans get regular updates on her glamorous, pink-washed lifestyle that feels more real housewives than the Upper Midwest.
Fleetwood has fewer fans inside City Hall, where she is seen as a pink outcast who upends the civic order via flashy paint jobs and disobeying regulations.
“I decided to create the life I wanted to live, which was: I love the color pink, my dream was to own a pink house, a pink car, but I never would have thought of it to arrive. Because it’s just a dream,” she says. “To make this dream a reality, I just worked hard and as I got the money, I started making my empire.”
For a crash course in Brooke Fleetwood’s empire, browse her lavish instagram feed. You will find a surplus hot selfies; on top salon offers; casual MAGA nods; jet set trips to abu dhabi; highlights of the real estate portfolio; and snapshots of his life filled with children and animals in the St. Croix River Valley.
Fleetwood’s life wasn’t always so glamorous. Her dad was the “top guy” at Andersen Windows, and moved his family from Seymour, Indiana, to Hudson in 2006. At first, his teenage daughter didn’t make any friends – “It was pretty awful, actually. !” she remembers. After Fleetwood enrolled in the Aveda Institute, the young beautician discovered things to enjoy in the Twin Cities, including the Mall of America and the downtown party scene. Fleetwood would move 27 miles east, where she would launch her salon/spa, marry her husband John, and have two children.
They lived in a “normal house” before Fleetwood, unawares of John, bought the 130-year-old Victorian at 904 Vine St. for $427,500 in 2015, county records show.
“I bought it, I immediately painted my house pink; it was unbelievable, it was the talk of the town…”, she says with obvious pride. “And that’s when the madness began.”
Soon after, Fleetwood acquired her salon at 512 Third St., about seven blocks from the Pink Castle. It will soon become the pink salon, to the delight of some and the horror of others.
“My store neighbor said, ‘Why haven’t you painted this facility pink yet?’ I was like, ‘Oh my god, I don’t know… because people are going to hate me even more! said Fleetwood. “We started painting it around 5am, and it was like: Ta da, it’s pink too! What will happen next? »
The city was unhappy. To preserve the character of the historic river town, buildings should remain in a range of “suggested color tones”, says Fleetwood – browns, whites, beiges, etc. City officials sent Fleetwood a notice asking it to repaint the storefront within 28 days. The stubborn company owner refused, and “within 15 minutes” a media frenzy began. Fleetwood eagerly spoke out through reporters and his own Facebook live stream.
“‘Pink Girl’ Fights the City Against the Dynamic Paint Job” shouted a headline from CBS News. Nearly 7,000 supporters signed an online petition while the town hall was trying to find a solution.
“We were just explaining: there’s nothing wrong with the color pink,” she explains. “The city tried, and they tried, and they tried to get me repainted. They dropped it, but since then I haven’t been on the right side of town.
When Super Bowl LII came to Minneapolis in 2018, Fleetwood discovered a new way to push the city government bear. A friend told him about the joyous price hikes that abounded on the subway, and Fleetwood quickly listed the pink castle on Airbnb. She didn’t attract any Patriots or Eagles fans, though a different demographic turned to the roster: bachelorette parties. During the first year, about 10 of them. This number would double the following year. “I was like, ‘I have to buy another property because we’re basically homeless,'” she says.
Until recently, Fleetwood had a constellation of short-term rentals around the St. Croix River Valley: Pink Castlethe gothic castleand the Afton Farmalthough it has just unloaded the latter area and the gothic castle hit the market last month.
“Now I would never sell the Pink Castle again, because it’s my brand,” says Fleetwood, noting that the Gothic Castle’s “darker, sexier, deeper feel” attracts bachelor parties. “But the Gothic castle, if I can double my money, why not? It’s a business decision, I’m a businesswoman.
(Fleetwood’s entrepreneurial zeal extends to OnlyFans, where “bad fuckers” can buy $50 bottles of her “sweat boobs.” We’re not kidding.)
In 2020, when the town of Hudson passed short-term rental ordinances, Fleetwood once again went to war with the town hall. She claims she was the first resident to submit an application; the city says the application was “incomplete.” Complicating it all: how to designate pools and hot tubs at each property, which city officials say don’t meet commercial standards. The City and County of St. Croix sued Fleetwood last year for noncompliance, as reported by Bring Me the New in detail.
Once again, media hubbub accompanied “The Pink Girl” and its fight for regulation.
“I was the one who started Airbnbs in Hudson. There were no rules with short-term rentals. They wanted to make a rule about that,” says Fleetwood, noting that all of his properties are licensed right now. OK fine! I was the first to apply, the first to send my money, and they “didn’t receive it”. But they cashed my check! So they screwed up completely.
She hints at the possibility of filing a retaliatory lawsuit against the city in the coming months.
While questioning her battles with Racket, Fleetwood maintains the energetic demeanor of an online influencer. She uses words like “manifest” and teases a large-scale expansion coming to Castle Pink. She recently added another pink castle rental in her hometown, as well as a satellite “beauty center”. The ultimate goal? Acquire a third pink castle in Nashville, “where bachelorette parties thrive”.
“People ask me how I did this, and the most important thing I tell them is: work your ass off, but have fun doing it,” she says, clearly relishing the role of motivational guru. . “I love pink, sparkle, all things joyful and positive, even through all this shit, and I want to experience that everyday. The universe will work for you.
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