Ramona is a 24 foot 1973 Tradewind Land Yacht. It’s easy to find vintage Airstreams that are beyond their glory days after sitting in a field for 30 years or ones that are ripped apart from a project with good intentions and poor follow through. It’s harder to find one in decent condition. We knew we wanted to do a renovation but we wanted to use it for a few trips before we started doing any work. I was thrilled to find a trailer that was clean and in good working order for the very fair price of being comparable to the ones that were already gutted (the trick is you need to be willing to drive to Timbuktu to pick it up).
I really love vintage styles and all things 70’s. Part of me would have loved to keep Ramona original but we needed to get all of the interior out to work on the frame and floor and we want to design it to be our home opposed to a weekend camper, so she’s getting a makeover. It was a little sad to pull out the interior though. I mean, look at those mustard counter tops, they’re so cool! My one non negotiable design is that we have to keep the control panel, it’s just so groovy!
I’m really thankful we spent some time in the trailer before remodeling it. I’ll always remember the wood rolling doors, old appliances and all the fun details of Ramona’s vintage self. I feel like seeing it that way helps me to connect to the history of its travels. I love thinking about the families before us cruising around in the 70’s and 80’s giving their kids a super rich childhood. Cool or not, the interior was old and is ready for new life.
