We're in the process of selling Dad's trailer — MOBILE HOME — in Texas, because he can't really live by himself since the strokes. I have to say, though, it's fairly sweet in many ways. The kitchen has two ovens and the stove is an island, and there's a pleasant dining room nook up at the front. The master bedroom has its own bathroom, and the next largest one has its own door into the hall bathroom/laundry room. And it's not even a double wide!
I lived in a double wide for a month or two in Estes Park (CO) around '76. It was kind of luxurious, and my roommate generously gave me the master bedroom, whose only possible drawback might have been that I'd have been crushed like a peanut if any rocks ever came loose from the cliff that loomed over our space.
Perhaps trailer parks wouldn't have quite the reputations they do now, if they were still built to be this swank. With modern space- and energy-saving appliances, that kitchen could feel much, much bigger, and still be cute as hell. The ceilings look a little low compared to the man, but I iz short, so I'd probably never notice.
The outside looks better than modern models, too. That built-on awning at the end makes a good difference, I think.
Swankiness is only part of the problem. NPR had a really interesting report about the economic problems of owning the trailer, but not the land underneaths puts people in a really bad place: http://www.npr.org/2012/05/02/151863518/home-sweet-mobile-home-co-ops-deliver-ownership
This is a big problem. I used to own a mobile and the practices of our park were extremely abusive. We considered buy some acreage to put it on, but we would have had to live too far out in the country. We ended up just abandoning it when we moved out of state.
In that same town, there was a mobile home community that was really old and the owner just decided to close the community and put the land up for sale. He gave people 30 days to move out. Even though everyone owned their homes, they were too old to move or for another community to accept them so all these people were suddenly homeless and a local charity had to help them find apartments. That land was up for sale for several years. I moved away from the area so I don't know if it ever sold, but I really hope that guy took a huge loss!
My grandparents had one, based in the livingroom, that actually grew all over the entire 4-bedroom home, running along a trellis through the halls along the ceiling. Personally I always rather envied it and would love to duplicate that in my own home, but I am terrible at keeping plants alive, even supposedly easy ones like that.
Reminds me of The Long, Long Trailer, my favorite "Desilu" production. It was this kind of brochure that made Tacy want to buy the damn thing in the first place.
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timeasmymeasure
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Date: 2012-07-18 03:48 am (UTC)I lived in a double wide for a month or two in Estes Park (CO) around '76. It was kind of luxurious, and my roommate generously gave me the master bedroom, whose only possible drawback might have been that I'd have been crushed like a peanut if any rocks ever came loose from the cliff that loomed over our space.
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Date: 2012-07-18 07:58 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-07-18 02:58 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-07-18 10:47 pm (UTC)The outside looks better than modern models, too. That built-on awning at the end makes a good difference, I think.
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Date: 2012-07-19 02:15 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-07-20 02:07 am (UTC)In that same town, there was a mobile home community that was really old and the owner just decided to close the community and put the land up for sale. He gave people 30 days to move out. Even though everyone owned their homes, they were too old to move or for another community to accept them so all these people were suddenly homeless and a local charity had to help them find apartments. That land was up for sale for several years. I moved away from the area so I don't know if it ever sold, but I really hope that guy took a huge loss!
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Date: 2012-07-19 12:46 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-07-19 02:46 am (UTC)Er...oxygen? And the spiders eat the fruit flies.
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Date: 2012-07-20 04:54 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-07-20 01:55 am (UTC)