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Remodeled 1969 Airstream Cabin on Wheels


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This 1969 Airstream is a guest cabin conversion that was renovated by the current owner.

Right now it’s in Austin, Texas. The current owner was using it on his property as a rental.

Unfortunately, the city determined that it is not allowable to be used as a rental on the current property, so that’s why it’s for sale right now.

The asking price was $22,000 USD. Last year alone, according to the Craigslist ad (expired), he was able to earn more than $25,000 in rental income from it. And so far this year, he’s already up to $8,000 in rental income. It’s too bad the city is forcing him to stop, isn’t it?

But it can be a great opportunity for someone to buy it who has the money. It seems like it’s ready to move into and use just like you would a custom built tiny house. For around $22k, that seems like a pretty fair deal to me! (Update: sold!)

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Remodeled 1969 Airstream

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“I bought and remodeled a 1969 Airstream that I’ve been using for short-term rental. The Airstream earned more than $25,000 in rental fees last year and has received almost $8,000 already this year (Documentation regarding income is available upon request.) That said, the City of Austin has determined the Airstream can no longer be used for rental. Therefore, I need to sell it.

The Airstream has a custom bed that is longer than a normal bed and is curved so that it is more narrow than a Queen-sized bed. The sale includes custom sheets made for the bed.

Also the plumbing and electrical for the Airstream has been upgraded. The good news is that the toilet is not the small original one, it’s a real residential one that works well. The bad news is that the holding tank has been removed, so the Airstream isn’t ready to go camping and hold waste.

The air-conditioner works great! Even in the hottest of Texas heat the trailer remains cool.
The windows have had leaks and have been fixed.
The original 1969 owners manual is intact and included.
Cloth wheel covers and jacks come with the trailer.
The floor has been replaced.
A custom table/desk is included in the sale as are curtains, mirror, daybed cover, vintage table and chairs, refrigerator, plates, cups — all goes! See photos.

You probably have questions I’ve not addressed here. If so I’m glad to answer your questions.

Thanks for looking. This is a gem, and I’m really sad to have to let it go. It’s been a real money-maker for me.”

Learn more: http://austin.craigslist.org/rvs/4959179389.html (sold/expired)

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Alex

Alex is a contributor and editor for TinyHouseTalk.com and the always free Tiny House Newsletter. He has a passion for exploring and sharing tiny homes (from yurts and RVs to tiny cabins and cottages) and inspiring simple living stories. We invite you to send in your story and tiny home photos too so we can re-share and inspire others towards a simple life too. Thank you!
{ 30 comments… add one }
  • Lynnette
    April 15, 2015, 8:20 am

    That is gorgeous! I love it!

  • Greg Burns
    April 15, 2015, 10:45 am

    AWESOME job on this restore/remodel/upgrade! Especially LOVE the adorable little, red kitchen set! Having had 2 newer “Airstreams” (i.e. a 2006 22 foot “CCD” and a 2006 “Parkway” motorhome…), I would normally NOT “like” changing any “original”-style appointments inside. But THIS one WORKS nicely! Congratulations!

  • Stacey
    April 15, 2015, 11:14 am

    I love what you have done to restore this airstream! It’s lovely!

  • Suzanne
    April 15, 2015, 11:30 am

    I absolutely love this airstream. Does it have a cooktop or do you have to use a toaster oven/hotplate? As it has no grey/black water holding tanks, I assume it needs to be directly connected to a sewer line…is that correct?
    Thank you.
    Suzanne

  • Bert
    April 15, 2015, 12:03 pm

    A true “EARTHSHIP”, outside looks at home in space, inside feels like home. As Dorothy said in Oz ” There is no place like home”.

  • RJ Smith
    April 15, 2015, 1:24 pm

    I have always wanted an Airstream but don’t know where we could set it. Absolutely love the renovations. We live in Indiana

  • hillary
    April 15, 2015, 2:06 pm

    what is the length and width on the outside?

  • Christa
    April 15, 2015, 4:08 pm

    Government is way too big and personal preference diminishing. Great Airstream.

  • Doris
    April 15, 2015, 4:39 pm

    What a difference a white or neutral layout makes. A beautiful makeover, but I have to question my math: the owner is getting over $2000 per month for rent? Is Austin housing that high? Wow. $600 tops in my area of Florida unless I found a retro afficianado

    • alice h
      April 15, 2015, 4:49 pm

      In the craigslist ad he says it was for short term rentals, probably like an Air BnB thing. Not necessarily $2,000/month but high per night rate like a hotel.

      • Doris
        April 15, 2015, 9:06 pm

        Thank you, Alice H, I didn’t even think about BnB prices. I wondered if Austin was as high as Seattle. My friends out there have a heck of a time with mortgages. Things are still reasonable here, altho Florida appears to be the foreclosure state right now.

  • lou
    April 15, 2015, 5:48 pm

    is there a second bed ? very interested

  • Greg Burns
    April 15, 2015, 9:14 pm

    Somebody asked how long & wide this “Airstream” might be. Well, my 2006 “CCD” model was 22 feet long, and seems to me that it would only go about as far as the rear large side window. So, using that as a “gauge”, I’d have to say this is anywhere from 27 feet to possibly slightly over 30 feet. And as far as width? Most travel trailers are 8 feet wide (on the outside, so subtract a bit for the interior insulation & walls…). the “Airstream” may, in fact, be 7 and a 1/2 feet wide. Again, the owner would be better equipped to furnish the exact measurements, but hope this might help in the meantime.

  • Karen R
    April 16, 2015, 12:22 am

    We full timed in an Airstream for a few months. Nothing like them! I believe they are 7 1/2′ wide. This one appears 29 to 33′ in length. Really nice (I like the residential toilet. That’s what we did with our fifth wheel. Lovely!!!!!

  • Greg Burns
    April 16, 2015, 7:36 am

    Funny thing about living in an “Airstream” trailer (i.e. “curvy” body versus the straight sides on their newer motorhomes…), the ONLY complaint I really ever heard was about large cereal boxes! Seriously! Because of their curved tops, super tall cereal boxes won’t stand up inside the upper kitchen cabinets! LOL! Really, folks? Aren’t there “better” things to be concerned with? You can always store them in the lower cabinets, lay them down, or repack their contents in a “Tupperware”-like container, right? So I NEVER found ANY thing to complain about. “Airstreams” are toasty warm in the Winter and icy cool in the Summer due to their great insulation and waterproofing. Easy to clean inside & out (i.e. they DON’T get “black streaks” down their white sides like “normal” campers with aluminum and/or “EPDM” rubber membrane roofs do…). Extremely roomy for both the occupants and their bring-along items. And, best of all: “TIMELESS”! The “Airstreams” from the 1930’s and the ones manufactured today don’t look too different, except, maybe, for the amount of panels that comprise the front and back ends over the main wrap-around windows. the older versions “fanned-out” with more of them. The newer ones use only about three of the panels. And over the decades, “Airstream” has “kept up” with styles and trends in furnishings, BUT within restrained tastes…NOTHING too “wild”, as some other manufacturers have tried selling the public. Although, my 2006 22 foot “International CCD”, by a noted designer, came in some fairly “loud” colors of upholstery, such as lime green, tangerine orange, cobalt blue,and taxicab yellow. As “crazy” as that sounds, all these colors really “worked” in conjunction with the pale wood laminate flooring and bare aluminum walls inside. The white and/or black laminate cabinets and countertops also blended nicely. You’ll NEVER go “wrong” owning an “Airstream”. Only ONE thing to be “aware of” on some of the really older models with rear bathrooms: be sure the floor doesn’t sag in back. Sometimes water damage might do that, especially because of the weight of the black & gray water tanks mounted in back, far from the middle axles… Greg

  • Megan
    April 16, 2015, 1:03 pm

    I’m loving this remodel! Sadly I have no way to get it from TX to FL & even if I did…nowhere to put it. Best of luck selling this…very nicely done!

  • John Day
    April 16, 2015, 1:23 pm

    I’m in Austin. I’m interested, as is a permaculturist friend of mine with a big work truck, who is mostly finished building a tiny house in an area without the restrictions you have.
    He’s Randy, and I’m John, and the [reply] feature on your craigslist ad doesn’t work right now.
    My email is {daysabroadatgmaildotcom}, which is simple to decode.
    Let’s check it out.

  • Elizabeth
    April 16, 2015, 6:24 pm

    I love your Airstream reno! Plus it was an excellent money maker ! Curses to the city of Austin for making you stop. Boooooo. I use Airbnb all the time as an owner and guest. It is awesome for unconventional nightly accommodations. I once saw a tent on a balcony in that website. Looked really cute too.
    I am currently renovating a 1976 Airstream Argosy..just for my use..a groovy mobile crash pad…thanks for the inspiration.

  • April 17, 2015, 11:55 pm

    I have always loved Airstreams. This one is one of the best I have seen!

  • JAVA06
    April 18, 2015, 1:04 pm

    This is so sweet. I’m sorry the short rental didn’t work out. I have no idea about your live in home, but if the money was that sweet annually, I would live in the camper and rent out the home. That is what I am hoping to do here with my folks’ home I now own. Put something very similar in my back yard and rent out the big barn X-D. <—- big laff face

  • Elle
    April 19, 2015, 11:24 pm

    Wow this is beautiful. You’d be hard pressed to find something this beautiful and with these upgrades (move-in ready) for a price like this! I hope this man at least made his money back in rental income because it’s a crying shame he has to sell (practically give away) this beautiful little home due to some bureaucratic BS. A perfect example of why people are saying “bye-bye” to the American ream-Dream and the rules, regs, invasion of privacy and rights, bureaucratic intrusion and all the garbage it promises to bring with.

    I see the TH movement as a timely, non-violent revolution to reclaim our freedom from self-serving monster of a government that now exists only to sustain its existence at any cost.

    This speaks to Doris’s comment about Florida being “the foreclosure state”. You’re absolutely right Doris. In fact Florida has led the nation in illegal foreclosures from the start due in large part to the physical presence of one of greediest, most vicious and insatiable financial predators on earth, AKA Ocwen “Financial”, Ocwen “Loan Servicing. It also hides behind a litany of ‘subsidiaries’ and collides with ‘partner-banks’ and non-banking predators who created the subprime catastrophe and/or was then rewarded with tax funded bailouts and then given carte blanch by our courts and legislators at all levels to feast on the homeowner-casualties and further, to ensure for themselves an endless supply of ‘casualties’ by way of blatant fraud, deception and illegal foreclosures -by the millions.

    Ocwen is one of the ‘biggest’ bottom feeding abominations (BFA) whose activities contributed to an unprecedented number of bankruptcies, divorces, broken homes, homelessness and suicides following the bank-sponsored subprime catastrophe.

    After been run out of the lending business in the late 90s for predatory lending Ocwen, the “brainchild” of Bill Erby, went on to masquerade as a “loan servicing” institution and morph into a billion dollar corporation’ exclusively through fraud, RICO violations, deceptive business practices, illegal foreclosures and some of the most despicable violations of legal and homeowner rights imaginable.

    There have been (not including thousands of lawsuits at the state level) over 2200 Federal lawsuits filed against Ocwen for its criminal activities. One notable suit was filed by 49 state AGs (the holdout being OK) for 2 billion dollars. Notable only because no one was charged with a crime and no one went to prison. This was just another wink, slap on the wrist, fine and a “pledge” (one of thousands) by Bill-bo Erby to play nice. The “fines” paid by Ocwen (actually paid by its investors) are no more than the cost of doing business. They haven’t stopped this BFA and they haven’t slowed it down.

    Our courts have set and are following precedent that allows Ocwen and fellow BFAs to foreclose on the home of their choice -without- the nuisance of producing the note or any documentation to prove they have the legal right to do so. They simply say they have the right to do so, and the court gives them their blessing. Legislators continue to succumb to BFAS lobbying and personal favors and pass bank and non-bank friendly legislation that’s only served to put homeowners -and everyone with a loan of any kind, at great risk.

    Just type ‘Ocwen’ into your search engine and find horror stories enough to provide months of reading. If you care to, read the testimony given by a former Ocwen employee in Sealy vs Ocwen, or Sealy Davis vs Ocwen. The testimony by this former employee will make your hair stand on end. The things they were told to say and do to their victims of illegal foreclosures will render you speechless. As long as states and courts, legislators and even Wall Street is making billions of dollars off scum like this regardless of the devastating consequence to citizens and to our economy, vulturistic financial terrorists like Ocwen will continue to destroy our country more thoroughly and irrevocably than any “Middle Eastern terroristic threat” we have ever known. All in a days work.

    I’ve been fighting to pay off my mortgage since Ocwen began ‘servicing’ it 2 1/2 years ago. They targeted my home for the large amount of equity I have. Using their well honed, crimal tactics they’ve twarted my efforts to pay off my very low balance up to now because they’re not in the business of ‘servicing’ at all. They’re in the business of stealing homes for their personal profit. They’re not ‘servicing’ my loan on behalf of the holder of the note -so far they’ve failed to prove one my request, who holds my note. They can’t prove it because they don’t know. So, I’ve retained an attorney to PAY OFF MY LOAN! Is that insane or what??!!

    Sorry this is so long bit after reading Doris’ comment about foreclosure I took the opportunity to hopefully enlighten a few people about the reality of the “foreclosure crises”. Legal foreclosures are the exception, not the rule -in spite of any propaganda otherwise spouted by the parasitic, multi-billion dollar financial terrorist industry. And DO take the time to learn about whatever entity is servicing any loan you have out there. Stealing people’s assists is the only way these vultures (my deepest apologies to actual feathered vultures everywhere!) make their money, and they are masters!

    This is just one, on a long list of reasons why I support the TH movement and why I will be among the TH dwellers as soon as I cut this bottom feeder out of my life so I can sell my home. As the Lord
    Is my witness I will never, be indebted to a bank, a bottom feeding ‘loan servicer’, or at the mercy of a mortgage as long as I live. God bless y’all and hang in there.

    • Megaan
      April 15, 2016, 7:13 pm

      The first thing that people must comprehend is that there was no loan, it was a securities contract to which we had no knowledgeof…do so more research…
      megan

  • Em
    April 25, 2015, 1:34 pm

    It is too bad that once again, bureaucrats prevent us from making a living. Just wondering how they found out about your renting it.
    I would be interested to buy it, however, I live in California, where government is even more invasive.
    Good luck in your selling it!

  • PattyKris
    June 15, 2015, 7:26 pm

    Nice job. We have two Airstreams and use them as guest quarters when family and friends arrive. One is an 1967, 18′ Caravel, which gives a whole new meaning to breakfast in bed. All in all it’s lovely and tiny. Our other Airstream is a 1966, 26′ Overlander and the perfect size for us. It is in the original ‘perfect’ condition. I only had to replace the fabric of the curtains and the cushions. There is plenty of storage space in every room, and believe me I’m someone who brings not only the kitchen sink, but the whole kitchen. 🙂 The Airstream pictured here is a good buy. It’s just lacking the storage that ours and original Airstreams have.

  • Mik
    April 15, 2016, 5:45 pm

    Would it be possible for him to rent it out as a “vacation” rental rather than a traditional rental property with a lease? Don’t people have a right to vacation in whatever structure they wish? Like a tent for instance? Is camping against the law too?

  • Marsha Cowan
    April 15, 2016, 7:14 pm

    The owner might be able to park it at a local RV court and keep renting it. We have those here at our RV park.

  • ZACHARY E MOHRMANN
    April 15, 2017, 8:18 pm

    Airstreams are wonderful travel trailers, and great for that family, or couple on the go.. But when they are restored by anyone who is not a qualified Airstream technician, they lose there value, and are no longer worth the large amounts of money that they once where.. Not to mention that Airstream interiors are something that no average Joe can really replicate, with all their intricate details, and innovations, they are really something to behold.. Once you change that, it just becomes just another travel trailer… Look at how a lot of old travel trailers are being renovated today, a specialized refurbish’er, someone who does refurbishing of this type, buys all the necessary original parts, and then painstakingly put the trailers back together as they were when first sold… Well that is why Airstream trailers lose value when just anyone tries to refurbish them, they have people who specialize in refurbishing them, and even when they are refurbished by specialized technicians they lose some value when they have to install new, or replicated parts.. But I’m sure this travel trailer may appeal to someone, regardless of it’s non official refurbishing…!

    • Natalie C. McKee
      April 17, 2017, 7:39 am

      Yes it’s a good thing to keep in mind, though, if you were hoping to restore your own and make big bucks 🙂

  • Ann
    April 15, 2017, 9:34 pm

    I like how they took out the walls separating the bedroom and opening up that space. Looks like they took out one of the beds and replaced it with a table. It really opened up that area and makes it look more spacious.

    • Natalie C. McKee
      April 17, 2017, 7:35 am

      So true! Great remodel, for sure.

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