Photography courtesy of Casamidy.
What would you do if someone offered you a fixer-upper Airstream? Join us for a look at Casamidy’s idiosyncratic version of style on wheels.
When not on the road, El Cornichon, as it’s now known—”because it’s a little pickle”—is parked under twin oaks across from the family ranch: See Home on the Range with Casamidy in Mexico.
Inspiration for the new color came from a small Bang & Olufsen speaker (see it below) and required multiple paint coats to get right: “First matte black, then iridescent yellow, then the green, and then a sealant because it’s going to be in the sun and we don’t want it to yellow,” explains Jorge.
Anne-Marie and sons at the trailer’s entry with its original screen door. Of the new paint job, he points out, “In daylight it’s olive, and at night it turns forest green
Inside, the Casamidy polyglot style has been scaled to trailer size: 27 feet long and eight feet wide. They’re bolted to the floor, and, Jorge quickly learned, everything else also has to be battened down or put away, so that when El Cornichon is on the road, all the pieces remain in place.
The sofas easily transform into twin beds.
As for the copper window and skylight trim, Jorge explains, “Our ranch is near Bisbee, Arizona, and there’s a lot of copper mining in the area. All of the copper fittings are my way of acknowledging Bisbee and Sonora.”
The stove was purchased at a regular appliance store and fitted out with a stitched leather panel on its exposed side. Metal rails are used for hanging mugs and kitchen tools, and the copper hood is custom.
Jorge was about to have a chest of drawers made to extend out from the stove when he discovered this 1970s credenza that came out of a fancy Mexican law office.
A detail of the stitched leather.
Striking the overall right tone, Jorge says, was tricky: “I didn’t want it to be too kitschy or too safari, so I tried to balance all the elements.” He also looked to nautical design: The wall lights are Original BTC Oval Bulkhead Light.
The compact bathroom has a leather-detailed iron vanity with a hammered copper sink. The galvanized tin rooster is the work of one of the Casamidy artisans.
The sofas are detailed with saddle leather; this one is 30 inches wide and the other is 35 inches wide.
A surprise element that Jorge insists is actually practical: an ornate Victorian claw-foot card table, which, when pulled out from the wall, serves as the dining table (and is secured with bungees when the Airstream is rolling).
For a Thanksgiving meal, the couple paired the table with the two Coleman picnic tables and comfortably staged a feast for 12.
The table set for dinner. Shifting the table around in such as small space, Jorge insists, is easy.
The interior walls and credenza top are painted a subtle mint that Jorge notes is two shades lighter than the classic Land Rover color.
A dramatic eroded gully leads to the Casamidy ranch.
The Airstream is used for weekend getaways and as extra quarters at the ranch.
Thanks to the Land Rover’s flat roof, the Front Runner Roof-Top Tent serves as a lofty extra bedroom.
Before
For years the Overlander had been left abandoned at the beach and arrived in very bad shape.
“The fact that the trailer was already in San Miguel made the project much more viable for us,” Jorge says.
Jorge sketched his makeover ideas on a photo of the existing interior.
Another plan in progress: Though labeled final, things ultimately shifted around quite a bit—and the kitchen sink and shoe cubby were both deemed unnecessary.
A sketch with all the details in place.