Meet the all-new Airstream Frank Lloyd Wright Usonian Limited Edition Travel Trailer – an Airstream unlike anything ever produced by this almost 95-year-old American brand. Featuring Airstream’s iconic, rounded, riveted aluminum shell exterior and a stunning interior inspired by the work of unparalleled architect Frank Lloyd Wright, this new 28-foot travel trailer is a testament to the best of American design. Airstream’s handmade craftsmanship and Wright’s distinct and intrinsic touchstones manifest in convertible features, narrow passageways that open to expansive interior spaces, and a beautiful blend of interior and exterior. Only 200 units of this Limited Edition Airstream will be produced over the next two years, and Airstream’s nation-wide dealer network is taking orders now.
The Airstream Frank Lloyd Wright Usonian Limited Edition was designed in collaboration between Airstream’s Jackson Center, Ohio-based engineering and design teams and the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation’s team based out of Wright’s Taliesin West home and studio in Scottsdale, Arizona. It draws inspiration from Airstream founder Wally Byam’s dedication to innovation in the pursuit of travel freedom and Frank Lloyd Wright’s singular philosophy of organic architecture, where the landscape is an essential element of design.
“I’d like to have a free architecture,” Wright wrote, putting into words his now-iconic design philosophy. “I’d like to have architecture that belonged where you see it standing.”
For Wright, that meant bringing to life designs that sprung naturally from the chosen site, informed by everything from the changing seasons to the path of the sun moving across the sky. But like Airstream founder Wally Byam, Wright was also an iconoclast, embracing new technology, new tools, and new ideas that challenged the old guard. In the Airstream travel trailer’s untethered ability to move from setting to setting with freedom, the Foundation’s design team viewed organic architecture through a new lens – one where nature and mobility find balance and harmony in the outdoors. Likewise, the Foundation challenged Airstream’s engineers and designers with capturing the essence of Wright’s style – particularly his Usonian design philosophy where convertibility maximized small space living – in the furniture, lighting, multi-functional features, and luxurious amenities.
The result is the Airstream Frank Lloyd Wright Usonian Limited Edition Travel Trailer – a 28-foot travel trailer with numbered, Limited Edition badging and a production run of just 200 units built over the course of the next two years. It provides owners with the ability to take Wright’s modern and functional designs on the road in search of beautiful vistas, stunning natural landscapes, and cultural locations across our vast and varied American tapestry.
“This is a dream collaboration that brings together two icons of American design, and by focusing on Wright’s design principles we were pushed to think differently about materials, textures, and small space efficiency in our floor plan,” said Bob Wheeler, president and chief executive officer at Airstream.
Wheeler praised the teamwork that blended key elements from both sides of the partnership.
“Collaborations like this bring new ideas to the table and push our design and engineering teams beyond their comfort zone. The result distills the essence of these two iconoclasts in a travel trailer that is both beautiful and functional.”
“We believe Frank Lloyd Wright’s design philosophy was always about helping people live with more purpose, beauty and joy,” said Henry Hendrix, Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer. “This collaboration with Airstream has been better than we could have imagined — a perfect meeting of vision and craft that brings Wright’s timeless ideas to life on the road. Together, we’ve created something that lets Airstream enthusiasts ‘Live Riveted’ in the fullest sense — deeply connected to nature, adventure, and the meaning of home, wherever they go."
A Design Unlike Anything in Airstream’s Nearly 95-Year History
As design work commenced, the teams drew on unprecedented access to Wright’s archives at Taliesin West. While Wright is primarily remembered for his architectural designs, the team took initial inspiration from his one-off 1939 design for a mobile kitchen. Akin to today’s food trucks – albeit with Wright’s signature flair (and an uncanny Airstream-esque exterior) – the design was never physically built. But its unique approach to kitchen layout and mobile freedom provided an excellent starting point.
The teams also found key inspiration in the efficient and functional Usonian designs that Wright embraced later in his career. With a name coined by Wright to distinguish these designs as uniquely from the United States and separate from the broader term American (which Wright felt encompassed the full breadth of North, Central, and South America), Usonian homes were designed for small space efficiency, with a particular emphasis on blending the interior and exterior.
With those design touches in mind, the teams established several touchpoints that were key to bringing together Wright’s architectural vision and Wally Byam’s innovative approach to mobile living.
Frank Lloyd Wright’s Usonian Design Principles at Work
The first step was incorporating Airstream’s popular Rear Hatch to create a focal point for blending interior and exterior. But where most Airstream travel trailers feature a convertible dinette just inside the hatch, this new travel trailer takes a unique approach by locating the primary sleeping area in front of the Rear Hatch. Twin beds, which also provide a comfortable lounge area and can be easily converted into a comfortable king-sized bed, offer a versatile and practical solution for various sleep arrangements. To enhance versatility, the setup includes tailored slipcovers and quilted coverlets that allow for a seamless transition from a restful sleeping environment to a stylish entertaining space. Supportive bolsters provide comfort whether lounging or hosting, creating a true dual-purpose retreat.
The Gordon Leaf Pattern: Bringing Nature Inside the Travel Trailer
In another masterstroke of collaborative design that blends the interior and exterior, the Foundation team drew on the work of Eugene Masselink – one of Wright’s most trusted apprentice designers and his personal secretary. Masselink was responsible for numerous accessory designs in Wright’s homes – from dishware to accordion screens – and he was Wright’s designated muralist on many projects. In 1956, Wright was commissioned to renovate the interior for the master bedroom of House Beautiful Editor Elizabeth Gordon’s New York estate, and Wright tapped Masselink to produce much of the interior decor.
An Airstream Interior Filled with Light
Throughout the interior, a specific emphasis was placed on filling the space with light. Overhead storage capacity was relocated to allow for more window space situated at standing and sitting height, further blending the interior and exterior and giving owners incredible views of the surrounding landscape. This also allowed Airstream engineers to increase the number of windows, bringing the grand total to 29, including two glass skylights – offering an abundance of natural lighting that surpasses all other current models. In fact, the Limited Edition has 26 percent more windows than the next highest window count in Airstream's current lineup (International 30RB with 23 windows).
Unique to Airstream’s current lineup, the Limited Edition features two circular porthole windows in a nod to both Wright’s late-career embrace of circular elements and Airstream’s dedication to rounded, aerodynamic designs. The color palette was drawn specifically from the Wright-curated 1955 Martin-Senour Paint collection, derived from the color tones of the desert landscape that Wright dearly loved. Natural mustard yellow, deep red, and earthy ochre tones are balanced by lighter turquoise, blue, and green shades through the trailer’s interior.
Wright’s beloved Taliesin Red hue is incorporated in the primary badging that mimics the architect’s signature tiles placed at many of his sites, as well as some of the included softgoods. A secondary exterior badge designates each trailer as a numbered Usonian Limited Edition Airstream.
Fans of Wright’s work will delight in furniture designs drawn from Wright’s mid-century modern styles. A wide lounge just inside the door features Wright’s deep-set cushions and high back, while overhead roof lockers in both the front and rear are replaced by floating shelves that lend themselves to displaying artwork, collectibles from travels, and books. The shelves in the rear of the trailer also include USB charging ports for recharging devices. At the front of the trailer, a convertible dinette and desk both fold down to create small-space efficiency and open up the area for living or pulling out the sofa to create a secondary sleeping area. Two chairs and a stool collapse flat and tuck neatly inside the desk-dinette wall cabinet.
Inspired by the central light feature in the dining room at Taliesin West, a Custom Slatted Ceiling Fixture runs the length of the trailer, framing skylights, concealing venting, and creating dynamic light and shadow throughout the interior. Elsewhere, soft, indirect lighting emits a warm glow from wall accents that further paint light across the aluminum Airstream interior.
The Airstream Frank Lloyd Wright Special Edition Travel Trailer has a GVWR of 7,600 lbs and is available now from Airstream’s nation-wide dealer network, with pricing starting at $184,900 MSRP. For more information and a full list of specs and features, visit airstream.com.
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Ready to place an order for one of these numbered Limited Edition travel trailers? Find your nearest Airstream Dealer and connect today.
Historical photography of Frank Lloyd Wright, Eugene Masselink, Wright-designed projects, and drawings: The Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation Archives. (The Museum of Modern Art | Avery Architectural & Fine Arts Library, Columbia University, NY)
