Friday, December 10, 2010

I'm free!!! And thinking of living in a vintage trailer...

First off, lemme just say,

I'm FREEE!!!

Well, for the most part at least. Studio is over! And winter break has basically started. I have one final exam still in a week, but I have plenty of time to just relax and study with classes being over...

So what's been on my mind lately? Well, vintage trailers....specifically, BIG vintage trailers! More like mobile homes really....

I'll be graduating college in a year and a half, and I love the idea of starting out after college in a vintage trailer! I could find one with outrageous 50's styling, fix it up, and make it my own little vintage oasis...



I am quite enamored with this 1959 Richardson that's been rotting away in a storage yard nearby my house here in MD... She may not look like much, but I just LOVE that angled end styling... She is very very rough, but in a way that might be better, since I could be free-er to stray away from the original-ness without feeling bad. Not to say I would ever make it modern, but as a designer and architecture student I would love the opportunity to redoe the inside with vintage things to create an entirely new (but vintage) atmosphere. It currently has really awful dark, fake wood paneling that I know is vintage, but I just can't stand... I could probably get that Richardson for free (or close to it) too... I hate to admit I'm not the biggest fan of her booty though. She basically just ends flat. It almost looks unfinished, or like someone modified it to just be a flat wall. I very much prefer the wild angles like the front end has. Because this trailer is so rough, I wonder if I could even modify the rear end design, maybe put in sort of balcony thing or add tapers or something... but make it look original. It would definitely require skill in metalwork to do it right, but that's something I'm very interested in and do want to learn. (I'll hopefully be taking some classes on at least welding soon). Oh, and while there's no pictures, in what's left of the living room is a very cool angled room divider...


I actually like the idea of living in some bizarre little collective grouping of vintage things. Like instead of one house per say, lots of little vintage rescued buildings and trailers...altogether in some little compound....like abandoned diners, little cottages, old train cars, vintage trailers, and other vintage oddities, some of which were never intended to be houses... I just think it would be such a fun and varied living experience. And I have seen all sorts of examples like the ones I mentioned listed for sale, often relatively cheap if you have a place for them.

But yea, here are some pictures I've been oogling over for inspiration. What I usually do is find certain images for inspiration when thinking of something like this. In a lot of cases, it's a singular thing or idea in an image I'm in love or am fascinated with. I love the idea of taking a lot of the ideas from these inspiration images and combining them in different ways.

Inspiration Images

LOVE this early 50's Landola! In this image what really strikes me is that sketched in patio/cover thing. I love the angled beam that extends past the roof line, and the play of the sever angles against the curved shape.

Below is another very cool patio covering idea.

The below Glendale has a similar angled front end (though I like the Richardson's better!), but this also has a very cool rear! I wonder if it'd be possible to to something like that to the Richardson. Also, love love this outrageous paint job!


And the chartreusy color of the one below...LOVE...
This one pictured below is a very rare 1959 Spartan Carousel...regarded by many as one of the holy grails of vintage trailers due to its excellent construction, styling, and outrageous floorplan! In addition to the large picture window on the end, which I love, the floorplan revolves around the kitchen in a way that had never been done before or again...

I mean just LOOK at that! How cool is that ROUND kitchen! With pink appliances, no less! Still not a fan of the wood paneling, but that kitchen is to die for...


The ceiling is also bumped down and then pulled back up to reflect the space below...and good lord there's even a Sputnik light tucked away in the recess! Oh! Incredible!!!

And the image below is just so happy and ridiculous I LOVE it. I'm kind of interested in combining some of the ideas from this image with the above one. Both are based on circles.... I love the high kitsch factor of this one and that little round covering thing held up by candy cane poles!
And this pink kitchen has the coolest angles in those cabinets (and in the layout itself). Not to mention its pink!


And I just kind of like this silly little wooden arch transition piece from an earlier 40's trailer...

Finally, I could only find an example in a vintage toy, but I love the little caboose covered balcony thing in this trailer!!!! Something like this also might be a possibility with the Richardson...

So anyways, just wanted to share some of what I'm currently oogling over! Lemme know what you think!