Carey Hultgren checks the view from her Airstream. She bought the 1973-vintage trailer for $1,200 and spent two years cleaning, repairing and decorating it.
Four years ago, after sojourns in Costa Rica, Indonesia and France, Carey Hultgren found herself back home in San Diego living with her parents - and wondering what to do with the rest of her life.
She was 27, a college graduate with degrees in French and art history from the Sorbonne in Paris, but was unable to find a job that would make use of her education.
In hopes of focusing her thoughts, she went on a vacation with her parents to the piney woods of Calaveras County.
That trip led Hultgren to two major loves - one for a young man; the other for an old trailer.
She met Randy Davis in a bookstore in Murphys during the vacation. "It was mutual love at first sight," says Davis, 28, an architectural concrete designer. Hultgren moved to the area shortly after the vacation to be near him.
She discovered the trailer - a silvery 29-foot 1973 Airstream International Ambassador Land Yacht - two years later at a garage sale. She had dreamt about owning one since she was a child.
This Airstream had a sign on it that seemed almost too good to be true: "$2,000 OBO." Her best offer was $1,200 and the owner accepted. By then Hultgren had decided to pursue a career in the interior design field, reasoning it would be artistically satisfying and had prospects for gainful employment. So, shortly after buying the trailer she signed up for an accelerated interior design course at West Valley College in Saratoga.
For a senior project, the course required her to design an interior space. Most students pick homes or offices for their projects. Hultgren, however, suggested redoing the Airstream.
Diane Hurd, head of the college's interior design department, thought Hultgren's idea was delightfully unusual and gave her a green light.
"No one had ever done anything like it before," says Hurd. "I really admired her for having so much imagination and for taking it on as her project."
Hultgren had only $1,500 in savings at the time and decided that was all she would spend on the remodel.
"That, too, was a little unusual," says Hurd.
"Most student projects are theoretical. They only do them on paper, so they have no real money considerations." Hultgren was anxious to begin work on the trailer but a close inspection revealed that it was in much worse shape than it had appeared at first. Foam cushions, the couch, beds, window fittings and many other items were "disgusting," she says, never having been replaced in the trailer's three-decade history.
In a project diary, Hultgren noted that cigarette butts were found behind the sofa and gummy tar was "everywhere." Structurally, some parts were damaged by mold or old age and needed to be replaced.
"I knew this Airstream would someday be my dream trailer but it was going to be more work than I originally thought," she wrote in the diary.
Inspired by a trip to Hawaii, Hultgren decided to remodel it with a "Hawaiiana" theme and gave the trailer a Hawaiian name - Maile. (Maile is a tropical leaf used to make leis.)
Hultgren emphasizes that what she did was a remodel, not a restoration. "A restoration means bringing it back to its original condition, exactly like it was when new," she says. "I did not want to do that. That would have been too restricting. So, I made it into something completely different."
Instructor Hurd says she met with Hultgren every other week "and she would give me detailed documentation of the work she had just done, including before and after photographs, and her plans for the next two weeks. It was a great learning experience. I didn't know anything about Airstream trailers at the start but I sure know a lot now."
Davis assisted Hultgren with the physical work, describing his contributions as those of a "hands-on carpenter."
"I thought her ideas were really good right from the beginning and enjoyed helping make them happen," he says.
Work was done between August 2002 and July of this year. During first year, that meant mostly cleaning and repairing (removing mold, replacing flooring, cleaning the ceiling, repairing window fittings). In the second year, new features were added.
Among them:
• Bamboo accessories (including window blinds and trim); small tables; decorative pillows; grass mats (for wall covering); light fixtures, and numerous Hawaiian kitsch items (hula girl doll, Hawaii license plate, vintage hula postcards).
• A radio/CD player (purchased for $92 at a mass market store) replaced an 8-track tape player above the couch in the lounge.
• The lounge couch was re-upholstered with brightly colored leaf-pattern Hawaiian barkcloth (purchased for $121 in Hawaii).
• Twin beds were replaced with a double bed, which was topped with a floral-pattern Hawaiian barkcloth comforter.
• Walls in the lounge and kitchen were painted with stripes of "dill pickle green" and "mayonnaise."
Now Maile, which sits on a country lot next to Davis' parents' home on the outskirts of Sonora, looks like a pristine tropical gem.
It also is serving as a temporary home for Hultgren and Davis, who four months ago became engaged to be married. They plan to purchase a conventional home and keep the trailer on their property for use as a guest home. Hurd was so impressed with the project she gave Hultgren an A.
A modern beanbag chair and retro tables accent the Hawaiian theme in the Airstream trailer's living room.
(Sacramento Bee/Owen Brewer)
Another view of the Hawaiian theme in the Airstream trailer's living room.
(Sacramento Bee/Owen Brewer)
Carey Hultgren named her remodeled Airstream trailer Maile, after a native
Hawaiian plant whose leaves often are used in leis. It is parked for now on a lot owned
by her fiancé's parents outside Sonora.
(Sacramento Bee/Owen Brewer)
Hawaiian plants and prints are used throughout Carey Hultgren's Airstream.
The kitchen is painted the colors of mayonnaise and dill pickles.
(Sacramento Bee/Owen Brewer)
Rally stickers from around the country are still affixed to the window of
the vintage trailer.
(Sacramento Bee/Owen Brewer)
The sleeping area also has a Hawaiian theme. The bed has a barkcloth print comforter.
(Sacramento Bee/Owen Brewer)
The Airstream's future will be as a guest home, says Carey Hultgren. She
and her fiancé, Randy Davis, plan to buy a conventional home and park the trailer
on the property.
(Sacramento Bee/Owen Brewer)