My Houzz: New Life and Style for a 1976 Airstream

The owner of this 1976 Ambassador Airstream embraces flexible furniture and clean, organized spaces

Lucy Call January 20, 2019

Houzz contributor. I have been working as a freelance photographer for 5 years. I specialize in architecture and food. You can check out my work at www.lucycall.com and follow me on instagram: @lucycall

Houzz contributor. I have been working as a freelance photographer for 5 years. I... More

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Jordan Menzel went out for a bike ride around downtown Salt Lake City one afternoon and saw an Airstream trailer parked on the side of the road. “A few days later, I was combing Craigslist and saw it was for sale,” he says. “While I hadn’t been planning to take on a restoration project, let alone live in an Airstream, it only took a few hours for me to commence scheming.”

The Airstream was in good condition for a 1976 29-foot Ambassador trailer, but came with all the clutter, shag carpet, wallpaper and claustrophobic curtains common to vintage Airstreams. “I picked it up for a steal in a matter of hours,” he says. “The hard part was finding a place to both do the restoration and park my home long-term. I looked high and low and landed a dream spot with a good friend. He lives in the heart of downtown and happened to have a large ‘40-foot field,’ so to speak, behind his home. After a few texts, the Airstream had found its home.”

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House at a Glance
Who lives here: Jordan Menzel, cofounder of CrowdHall, an online company that helps users host interactive town halls, and his 1-year-old daughter, Penelope
Location: Downtown Salt Lake City
Size: About 160 square feet (15 square meters)

The restoration process was slow, because Menzel ended up changing just about everything. “The happiest moment was, hands down, the first night I slept in it. Not only had I just spent a long, cold winter working on it late at night, but I had also been floating from one living space to the next. While doing the remodel, I was also in the middle of some large life changes, and finishing the Airstream was so much more than just a project. It was a symbolic gesture to myself that I still had the capacity to take on a wild idea and bring it to life. Falling asleep in this hilariously odd creation sort of put to rest all my personal struggles and allowed me to have a renewed sense of who I am and what I wanted: a simple, happy life.”

Houzz TV: See this Airstream makeover in action

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“I suppose my style would be a mix of contemporary, vintage and elemental — steel, wood, stone — materials,” he says. “Even though I am a wildly erratic person, I hate clutter and like clean, well-organized spaces that prioritize multiuse functionality. My philosophy on decorating is that if it doesn’t serve a purpose, it isn’t necessary. I loathe decor and purposeless items in a living space. As a result, the concept of tiny homes is very appealing to me. It forces one to eliminate unnecessary items and use one’s own space to communicate personality.” Following this philosophy, Menzel used hundreds of deconstructed wooden pallets to build the closet and the cabinet around the fridge.

“The primary challenge was one of opening up the space and removing the claustrophobic feel common in older Airstreams, while expanding storage and ensuring that the day-to-day needs of a living space would be taken into consideration,” he says.

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After researching many Airstream restorations, Menzel found himself annoyed that they all still had the look and feel of RVs. “I wanted to add some elements that would make the trailer look and feel more like a studio apartment and less like an RV,” he says. “One simple decision I made was to furnish the living room with free-floating pieces.”

For example, the sofa bed, rugs, tables and chair can all be moved. “Given that most restorations have built-in couches and dinettes, I found this flexible living room a welcome space that allows for rearranging and a feel common in any home or apartment.”

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Menzel uses the existing overhead storage spaces for his books.

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He almost ripped out the overhead storage compartments but decided at the last minute to keep them. They match the renovated space while keeping the original feel of the Airstream, and provide a lot of additional storage to keep this small space clutter free.

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The desk is Menzel’s favorite spot. “I find myself spending the majority of my time eating, working, reading and writing on the little bar/desk/kitchen table I made,” he says. “It’s a simple inlet in the long counter that was almost an afterthought. However, it has revealed itself to be the most useful space I have and, as a result, my favorite.”

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“The challenge when taking on remodels in general and specifically Airstream restorations is knowing what needs to be completely rebuilt and what simply ought to be restored,” says Menzel. Nearly all of his Airstream was gutted and rebuilt from scratch.

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Menzel sought some advice on how to update the plumbing. “Trailers are tricky and have safety issues with respect to LP gas lines. A few contracted hours with an RV specialist named Drew was all I needed to get up to speed and handle the complicated issues in a safe and efficient way,” he says. The rest was done on his own with help from his father. Menzel added a composting toilet that uses moss to make the Airstream even more self-sufficient.

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“Nothing I have done trumps the original exterior,” Menzel says. “No matter how many Airstreams I see, I am still in awe at the clean, modern design that originated in the late ’50s, completely ahead of its time.”

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Menzel is now improving the exterior of the trailer. Some of the updates include recaulking all the windows and seams, sanding and refinishing the main trailer frame and possibly doing a full repolishing. “These are now fun tasks that I can take plenty of time on, unlike the mad dash in midwinter to finish the inside,” he says.

Menzel loves living in Salt Lake City, since there are a lot of options for tiny-home parking and the city is surrounded by the Rocky Mountains. “This city-mountain clash means that within minutes, you can go from downtown to isolated canyons — the perfect dynamic for off-grid living and gorgeous views,” he describes. He was planning to move with his Airstream to the San Francisco Bay Area and says, “Driveways, backyards, vacant lots and alleys are all welcome.”

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Originally from Salt Lake City, Menzel has spent the past few years there and in Washington, D.C., working on CrowdHall, his civic-oriented start-up. “I have a deep appreciation for manual labor; adventures; my little girl, Penelope Bird; and simple, well-designed spaces. I am a mediocre rock climber and a militant bike commuter,” says Menzel, pictured here with Penelope, who stays with Menzel part-time.

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