The Argosy

I've renovated/restored numerous dwellings; a few houses, a single-wide trailer (never again!). My travels to/from school for the last 5+ years take me by a business that sells mobile home parts and old campers, some of which they restore and sell. I watched an old Airstream Argosy (the painted version of the shiny Airstream trailers) move around the lot for a number of years. I finally stopped to look at it and you can undoubtably figure out what happened shortly thereafter.

This was one of the first pictures I took to try to sell my wife on getting this. Let's just say she's still not keen on the idea. What actually started my thinking about restoring this was a comment from her that I should build a tiny house to put on our 50 acres. I mean, after all, this is a tiny house, right? And wouldn't it be more fun and less expensive to restore one of these than to build a tiny house? And, we could take it camping if we wanted. Plus, I think it's epic.

So, I've had it now since last winter and I've started the process of renovating. It's taken this long for me to decide that I should document the process of restoration.

Officially, she's a 1979 30' Airstream Argosy with a center bath and double bunks in back. As is typical with most all Airstream trailers that aren't regularly sealed, water has leaked in around the joint where the shell meets the trailer bed and the floor has decayed. This brings condition of the frame into question so I am planning a full, "shell-off" restoration. As often as I can, I will document my progress here.