By Emily Chaplin
Updated:
No-one can accuse caravans of being stuck in the past. These much-derided British mobile homes are busy re-inventing themselves and in danger of becoming trendy.
While the standard net curtain model remains ever popular, a new genre of caravan is revitalising the industry at a time when more people are holidaying at home.
The Caravan Club, which counts Helen Mirren and Billie Piper among its members, and Take That's Mark Owen and model Nell McAndrew as fans, reports that holiday bookings are up by 40 per cent compared with last summer.
Home in tow: The Thirties-inspired Airstream caravan has been redesigned for UK roads
And the rival Camping and Caravanning Club, which has the outward-bound Bear Grylls as an ardent supporter, has seen a similar surge in interest this year.
Celebrities might regard caravanning as a way to return to the simple pleasures in life.
For the rest of us - particularly 35 to 44-year-olds, who, according to VisitBritain, are the most likely to do - it's a leisure pursuit which needs to fulfil our dictates on comfort and eco-friendly credentials.
Dick Shone, the Sussex-based founder of Boutique Caravans, is leading the revolution. 'There are people of my generation, approaching 50, whose main asset is their house who are thinking about downsizing to park homes for retirement. But when I looked at what was on offer, the aesthetic was rather old-fashioned,' says Shone, an art publisher.
He decided to fill the gap and designed the Indy home, which retails from £75,000. Its simple but super-insulated wood cladding and glass exteriors blend in with the surroundings, while inside, it looks more smart city apartment than mobile home, with full-size beds, power showers and top-brand kitchens.
Indoors, outdoors: The Airstream Globe Trotter is a popular model
The Indy, designed mainly as a holiday home, can also be used in the garden as an annexe or office.
'The benefits are it can be delivered on a truck and installed in a day, so there's less impact on the environment than building an extension. And it's far cheaper than an extension or home office,' says Shone.
It's energy-efficient, with underfloor heating and ventilators that expel air and transfer fresh air to reduce the need for heating.
Shone's other designs include The Edge, a modernist mobile home inspired by Mies Van der Rohe, with floor-to-ceiling insulated glass walls, 'intended to be a permanent residence,' says Shone, and The Break, a holiday home space, with sound systems throughout, even in the shower, and rear projector TV screens so you can watch films from your deck.
Prices start at around £40,000. All three designs have flexible internal layouts and all sit on a mobile chassis, which means they can be sited anywhere on your own land without the need for planning permission.
'I'm hoping to find a site to turn into an Indy home park, ideally on the South Coast,' says Shone.
The interior of a Globe Trotter, including all the modcons of modern life
For those more likely to be on the move, try the teardrop-shaped T@B, available from Blackmore Vale Leisure from £7,990. The lightweight, two-berth version weighs just 800kg when fully-loaded, 'which opens up a far wider market beyond people with big cars, as you can tow this with a Mini,' says Blackmore Vale's Paul Hopkins.
'We meet lots of people who say "I don't even like caravans, but I love this",' he says.
The T@B 400 four-berth version, which starts at £14,900, includes a stargazing electric window.
For the ultimate in mobile chic, there's the bullet-like Airstream, a Thirties American icon, as owned by Brad Pitt and Denzil Washington. Now it has been streamlined to suit UK and European roads and costs from £29,950.
It is stylish, with interiors in polished aluminium and black leather, but hard-wearing and economical too, using 20 per cent less fuel than the typical caravan.
'I fell in love with the curves and design of the Airstream as a child,' says 33-year-old Jack Horner, manager of Frukt music marketing agency in London, who is looking at buying an Indy home.
'I'd like my son to experience that same sense of freedom,' he says.
'Even the memory of it heaving down with rain, huddled around a table playing a board game, makes me feel nostalgic.'
Boutique caravans: 07507 835373, boutiquecaravans.co.uk Blackmore Vale Leisure: 01747 851497, bmvcaravans.co.uk Airstream: 015396 24141, airstreameurope.co.uk.
