Caravel And Bambi: Two Names From Airstream’s Mid-Century PastĪirstream’s travel trailers are available today in sizes ranging from 16 feet to 33 feet, including three feet or so for the tongue/hitch/propane tank assemblies up front. If any company has had time to sort out what works, what doesn’t, and how things should be arranged in a tiny home, with or without wheels, it’s Airstream. Moreover, none have had slide-outs or second stories, and hence, have even come close to 400 square feet. Since founder Wally Byam first introduced the original Airstream Clipper in 1931, the company has hand-built over 100,000 of its iconic “silver bullet” travel trailers using aircraft-inspired riveted construction techniques of the era. No American company has been building tiny homes – with the wheels attached, anyway – longer than Airstream. Whatever the use may be, tiny homes create self-sustaining spaces in 400 square feet or less, which requires some decisions be made about what goes in, what stays out, and for prefabricated tiny homes that roll in on a chassis, whether to keep the wheels attached.
This is central to the appeal of those modular, chic, if not necessarily cheap, “tiny homes” sprouting up in increasing numbers on rural properties, or even adjacent to primary homes, where they serve as short-term rentals, guest homes, home offices, or playrooms. That said, paring an object or experience down to just what’s needed can be refreshing. Experiencing Autocamp: An Airstream Experience For Anti-Campers