This isn’t your grandpa’s RV, even if it looks like it.
Retro resto-mods aren’t anything new in the car world. There are countless companies that take classic designs, and even entire classic cars, and pack them with modern technology and materials. Companies like Singer, Alfaholics, Icon, and Ruf all have cars with beloved vintage designs wrapped around modern underpinnings. But did you know there’s an RV company that does the same thing? As the Autopian recent discovered, Holiday House RVs are back from the dead and they pack up-to-date interiors wrapped in mid-century modern exterior designs.
Not familiar with Holiday House RVs? Don’t worry, you’re not alone. Holiday House was a very small RV company that only built handmade RVs for a mail-order gift basket company, Harry & David, during the offseason. Harry & David owner David Holmes wanted to bring in some additional revenue during his offseasons, so he put his gift basket craftspeople to work building RVs under the Holiday House name. To create his mid-century modern RV designs, Holmes turned to Charles Pelly, the American designer that would go on to design TV show sets and even help found BMW’s Designworks USA.
Holiday House eventually went under in 1962 and the rights to its name were bounced around between companies for decades but no one ever did anything with the name. That is until 2014, when the current owners took control of the name with the intent to bring the brand back from the dead. According to Holiday House, its revival will reignite the passions of RV enthusiasts, similar to how “Chevrolet reintroduced the Camaro and Dodge reintroduced the Challenger.”
Old Holiday House RVs were built just like every other RV of the ’60s: wooden frames on steel chassis with plywood sheathing. However, those old campers were susceptible to mold and mildew, being made mostly from wood. Now, Holiday House uses a mostly aluminum construction, R14 insulation, and composite vinyl flooring (though the roof panels are still made from plywood). However, the exterior designs are all inspired by the classic Pelly-penned RVs of the ’60s. The brand’s fan-favorite “Worldview” wraparound front window is back as well.
Inside, these RVs have solid-wood cabinetry, Bluetooth radios, and gas stoves. However, they still use mid-century modern designs, such as wood paneling and ribbed metal trim.
There are three different models available: the 18RB (20-feet, 11-inches long), the 24SC (26-feet, nine-inches long) and the 27RQ (30-feet, seven-inches long). Holiday House doesn’t list prices, and you’ll have to find one of its dealers to buy one, but prices seem to range from around $40,000-$82,000, according to the Autopian. For any fan of mid-century modern RVs, these new Holiday House campers could be as exciting as the revived Camaro was for car enthusiasts.
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