While searching for a new home and office, Nashville-based musician Ryan Hunter Sanchez decided that it was due time to embrace the call of the open road. He scored a 1969 Airstream Sovereign that was stripped down to its bare shell and proceeded to give it a complete overhaul. Georgia-based NüAbode handled the design and build of the 31-foot trailer, while the team behind Mavis The Airstream transformed the interior into a “bachelor pad” fit for living and working on the go.

“She was one of those one-in-a-million Airstreams you find every so often that are perfectly preserved and frozen in time,” says Sheena Armstrong of Mavis The Airstream.

The design team tore down walls to reconfigure the layout and open up the dark, segmented 200-square-foot space. The rear bath now stands in the middle of the Airstream, a queen bed is tucked away in the back, and an open-concept workspace lies at the front of the trailer.

“We wanted to create an open, collaborative environment for Ryan and his bandmates,” Armstrong says. “Rather than tucking a workspace away in the rear of the Airstream, we incorporated a multiuse, open seating area in the living space. Ryan can work solo in front of the panoramic front window or turn his chair around and collaborate with his bandmates with enough seating for four between the chairs and the two-seater sofa.”

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The enlarged kitchen flows into the multiuse area with plenty of counter space. The white-painted birch cabinets are topped with solid ash countertops.

The walls in the main living space are clad in lightweight Appalachian poplar planks arranged to mimic rustic shiplap. The design team replaced the floors with dark plank vinyl, powder-coated the aluminum interior in a pale gray, and updated the plumbing and electrical systems throughout.

While the interior got an overhaul, the exterior was in great shape with a nice patina, so it was left as is. “Since the Airstream is sealed by the factory with a heat-deflective coating, we usually encourage clients to leave this original,” Armstrong says. “Stripping the exterior clear-coat makes the Airstream warmer in the summer and colder in the winter, even when it’s polished.”

The design team drew inspiration from the Airstream’s heyday, embracing the ’60s aesthetic and allowing it to dictate their plan. They incorporated vintage and thrifted decor to give the updated space a layered and collected look, with a nod to the past.

“Since Airstreams are already so retro, I wanted to bring a lot of those nostalgic elements to the interior,” Armstrong says. “We incorporated a midcentury sofa and vintage metal school chairs for the front seating area. A lot of the design elements were vintage, like an old tambourine, a radio, a cast-iron eagle, old sheet music turned wall art, and one of my favorite pieces—a thrifted early 1900s pencil drawing of a horse that I framed for the kitchen wall.”

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Project Credits:

Builder/Contractor: NüAbode

Interior design: Mavis The Airstream

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