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Surprising though it may be to some, living on the road was a thing way before #VanLife blew up. Camper trailers enabled families in the ’50s and ’60s to see the sights with their home in tow, though that usually meant cramming into a small, single-axle RV with just enough room for the essentials. This mobile home from 1964 is a clear exception, measuring 50 feet from nose to tail. Better yet, it’s for sale.
Home Obsession in Texas has the house on wheels listed for $24,500. That’s really not bad considering you could spend a whole lot more on a Class C camper or a tiny home, and this clearly has more room than both. It’s billed as a two-in-one—both a camper and a mobile home—though it’s better off being parked somewhere, unless you live where the roads are empty and straight.
The for-sale ad mentions that it has an RV plug, which I’m assuming is a 30-amp. The stove and water heater run off propane, so those can work off the grid without any issues. It apparently has solid floors throughout and the roof is well-sealed. That’s more than I can say of my camper, and it’s a 2018 model.
Anywho, the inside is furnished with barstools, a living room couch, and two beds. A lot of the work seems to have been performed pretty recently, as there are photos from a few weeks ago showing a bare interior and no blue stripe on the outside. It’s not totally original, but if that’s what you’re looking for in something like this, you’re better off buying an Airstream for way more money.
The likely reality is someone will buy this and put skirting around the bottom, making it a permanent fixture that’s either kept in the family or listed on Airbnb. It doesn’t make sense to hitch up to a trailer this size and regularly pull it across the country, even though the listing says it’s movable with a diesel truck. An older mobile home this size could weigh around 25,000 pounds, and while that may be under a modern dually pickup’s max capacity, it’d be cutting it close with the conventional hitch. Plus, the sheer length makes it a non-starter for most. You could hire someone to transport it and call it a day.
You won’t find many like this these days, especially in good shape and for a good price. It also has a lot more charm than the gaudy fifth-wheel campers being built now. Whether it becomes your temporary or permanent digs, you could do a lot worse than a ’60s mobile home with aluminum siding.
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