Loren Crawford of Matilija Vintage Trailer Restoration is hard at work with an electric saw, at his workshop in Ojai.
He’s cutting a piece of wood with a curved edge to fit inside one of the many classic Airstream trailers which are being custom-renovated here.
"We do maybe three really nice ones a year, and then a mid-range one - but the best ones I build has the 40's body but everything on the inside is brand new. And it's set up to a solar backup to a battery system so the goal is to never have to plug in," he told KCLU.
Crawford started doing this as a hobby – he worked building fashion sets – but it soon took over as his main role – and – says Crawford – the business really boomed when COVID changed the way people could travel.
"COVID was weird because everybody had to isolate and not travel through airlines and stay within your family unit. So it [business] was hot before it just blew up during COVID because it was a way to stay within your family unit and still travel around," he said.
The silver aluminum trailers are an iconic and unmistakable design – and almost 70 per cent of all Airstreams ever built are still on the road today.
"The Spartan company were an aircraft company," he explained, which took off after the Second World War when they had riveting equipment and put it to use building trailers.
"There's a huge history on Airstreams too...the quality of the way they built the Airstreams back in the 50's, the craftsman ship - they're just the best made," he said.
Crawford shows me inside one which is stripped back to the bones inside for renovation.
"They just wanted to make the lines as cool as they could," he said of the stylish arched ceiling.
These aren’t just refurbished for travel. They also make an excellent guest house or - nearby at the Ojai Deer Lodge - they've turned a trailer into a cute portable bar for events.
"We've named her Sadie, a fun little Southern Belle name," owner Sophia Miles told KCLU.
Her custom trailer is about the size of a horse box with a side panel that lifts up to create a hatch for a bar.
"We do draught beer, wine, canned beer and cocktails," she said.
So these classic trailers could be bringing a return to the golden age of camping, or just serving up a gin and tonic.
