Weekend Basics: Project Airstream

Just look at the silver beauty! It's not ours, but we did get a chance to check it out this weekend and have plans to help with some updating projects to come. To give a little background...

Our friends, Josiah and Jocelyn (who you might recognize from our posts about Lockhart Family Farm) just picked up this new-to-them 1976 Airstream trailer to bring back and house on the farm. They have plans to update it for use in different ways around the farm, perhaps as a classroom for their summer camps and a glamping airbnb destination for travelers.

Since Tim and I have so much fun dabbling in repurposing, transforming and restoring, they thought it could be fun to collaborate on a few projects to breathe new life into this shining beauty. Needless to say, we jumped at the invitation to drive out to farm and get a first peek over the weekend. Alexander, the Lockhart's insanely adorable 2 year old son and heir to the Airstream throne (pictured above) led up the tour, babbling and boisterously laughing the whole way through.

They told us they'd purchased the Airstream from an Elvis impersonator who used it to travel to different performance events — how's that for a good backstory?! Thank you, thank you very much.

Checking out the interior brought back a rush of memories for me especially, as my maternal grandparents would pack up during the winter months to live in their own pristine Airstream down in Florida. They were part of a larger Airstream and golfing community, Traveler's Rest, so it was always a huge deal when we'd get to go visit them down there for a week when we were younger.

Once back home, I hopped on the phone with both my mom and sister to ask about my grandparents' Airstreams (they had two over the course of several years), and my mom dug up an album full of pics from when we'd go visit in the early 80's through early 90's — I thought you might enjoy seeing some of them here, along with the notes my grandmother made on the backs of each image:

March 1983, De Solo Park, FL

March 1983, Alice (my nanny), first airstream interior

January 1983, Midlothian

April 1985, park in North Brunswick

March 1990, Mary, Teller, George & Jinx (my family visiting)

March 1991, "Cocktails at the Lloyd's"

 Traveler's Rest aerial view, Dade City, FL

I remember the rows upon rows of lined up silver Airstreams, how my grandfather would go golfing each day and how spoiled I felt when my grandmother would walk me down the to the "snack shack" to get something sweet in the afternoons. I always wanted to stop and try to collect the spanish moss hanging from the trees, and Nanny would have to explain how it was filled with bugs. When Googling around, I found these old images that portray memories of Traveler's Rest perfectly:

Images sourced from this history of TR pdf

So that was a fun little trip down memory lane. It's interesting how a simple thing like friends getting a new camper can unlock a rush of childhood memories that might have otherwise stayed compartmentalized for who knows how long? Music also has a similar effect like that for me — know what I mean?

OK, back to the Lockhart Farm camper! Over the next several weeks, Josiah and Jocelyn will be working to update the electrical and plumbing in order to bring the Airstream into a fully functioning state and working hard to give the entire interior a full cleaning. From that stage, they'll be looking to make the Airstream's debut on airbnb while making design updates little by little as time and farm budget permits.

After checking out the camper, Tim and I were filled with inspiration and ideas for different ways to make updates, so hopefully you'll see more from us to come on that front.

We also had fun brainstorming different hashtags this Airstream journey could adapt and then it hit us all when "#farmstream" came out of Jocelyn's mouth. It's the perfect blend of Lockhart Family Farm and their new Airstream undertaking. To that end, while everything is still fresh, feel free to keep up with the progress by following farmstream on Instagram and Twitter.

Did you grow up with an Airstream or go camping with the family? Maybe you've updated an RV or camper and have some tips for success (or horror stories). We'd love to hear your stories and ideas in the comments!

Discover More:

All Project Airstream Posts