‘Thoughtfully designed’
RVs have been attracting those interested in tiny-home living
Every year, millions of Americans load up recreational vehicles and hit the road, joining seasonal, nomadic communities that spring up in RV parks and campgrounds in some of the country’s most beautiful landscapes.
The stereotype is that RVs typically carry retirees, but the reality is that travel trailers have been attracting more people, and younger people, than ever, some drawn by an interest in tinyhome living, others pushed by the crisis of the pandemic.
According to the 2021 North American Camping Report from Kampgrounds of America, a network of privately owned campgrounds, RV use has grown steadily since 2014 and reached a record high of about 13 million households in 2020. RV ownership among 18- to 34-year-olds has also grown significantly, as reported by the 2021 Go RVing RV Owner Demographic Profile, and that age group now makes up about 22% of the market.
This market share might be even larger if RVs appealed more to design enthusiasts who grew up in the age of boutique hotels. Few RVs and RV parks offer the sort of luxuriously pareddown, Scandinavian-influenced style that has given birth to websites like Cabin Porn and transformed so many rundown motels in the Catskills of
New York.
Some campers have taken matters into their own hands by gut-renovating RVs to give them the charm of a contemporary cabin while sharing design hacks online. Manufacturers have also responded with design-focused offerings, like Airstream’s recent collaboration with Pottery Barn on a special-edition trailer, and the stylishly retro creations of newer companies like Happier Camper.
But that still left room for the reinvention of the RV park experience, and architects, designers and entrepreneurs have been rushing to fill the void.
At Bay Point Landing, in Coos Bay, Oregon, the architects at OfficeUntitled worked with JHL Design, an interiors firm, to create a seasonal community for NBP Capital centered on a clubhouse of angular volumes clad in blackened cedar shingles and equipped with low-slung, squishy furniture.
“We joked that we wanted to create something that was like the Ace Hotel of RV parks: something very unique and a great experience,” said Christian Robert, a principal at OfficeUntitled. “What struck us was that there was a need for this kind of in-between space, where you could get away and experience nature but also share it with others.”
Visitors can bring their own RVs, stay in one of the on-site Airstreams, or book one of the custom trailer-based cabins. Prices have recently ranged from about $70 a night for an RV site to more than $300 for a cabin. Guests can spend time by themselves or get together with other travelers in the clubhouse, which includes an indoor pool, gym, event space and playroom, or venture out to other communal areas around the 103-acre property.
With the resort’s mix of natural beauty and of-the-moment design, “It’s the ultimate place to have an Instagram moment,” said Holly Freres, principal of JHL. The target market, she added, includes “the 20-somethings who maybe don’t want to spend a lot but have a high-design aesthetic and really want a space that’s simple but thoughtfully designed.”
AutoCamp caters to travelers who are eager to try RV living but perhaps don’t have a camper of their own. All accommodations are in the outfit’s own customized Airstream trailers, along with a few trailer-based cabins and luxury tents. The chain has two locations in California and opened one on Cape Cod in the spring. Sites are planned for the Catskill Mountains in New York; Joshua Tree, California; and Zion National Park in Utah.
Each location has a different midcentury modern-inspired clubhouse constructed from chicly rustic materials like black and blond woods, textured natural stone and blackened steel.
“The mission is to really connect people to the outdoors, and connect people to each other,” said Will Spurzem, AutoCamp’s design director. “We could have gone in the direction of a more traditional hotel property and built permanent rooms, cabins or larger room structures, but those don’t really fit with the ethos of getting outdoors.
AutoCamp started out by renovating vintage trailers but has now developed custom units with Airstream, which has become an investor in the chain. The units feature walnut-plank flooring, minimalist light fixtures with exposed bulbs and spa-like bathrooms with sliding barn doors, while the clubhouses are by news-making architects and designers.
Workshop/APD, for instance, which is New York-based and best known for its upscale modern homes and urban new developments, designed the Cape Cod location, near Falmouth, Massachusetts, where nightly rates for Airstreams have recently ranged from just over $300 to more than $500.
AutoCamp’s trailers are largely intended to remain on one site, but Moliving, a New York-based hospitality startup, plans to use the mobile nature of such units to its advantage. The company aims to open its first location, named Hurley House, near Kingston, New York, with planned rates from $259 a night, in the coming months, but it intends to tow its custom trailers between different locations to support communities that expand and contract with the weather.
The company might truck units close to the ocean, for instance, to create a beach community in the summer, and then relocate most of them in the cold months to accommodate winter sports enthusiasts.