Gypsy the Spartan Manor

When you arrive at the Tiny Tiki Retro Hideaway, you may be flabbergasted at the view, and the memory of driving up the steep hill is still fresh in your mind. When your host opens your guesthouse for the next few days you may not really be paying attention. But the specialness of it will sink in soon and so the curiosity will rise, because it's unlikely you have ever been inside a trailer like Gypsy.

"Gypsy" our 1954 Spartan Manor was built at Spartan Aircraft Company, a retooled aircraft factory in Tulsa Oklahoma in 1954. J. Paul Getty owned the factory and spared no expense in design and construction. At that time, when need for post war housing skyrocketed, a fine trailer like this cost nearly 1/2 as much as a house; but, it had an advantage: you could tow it to your next job location, and live in comfort in a trailer park community.

Gypsy is one of the smallest trailers built by Spartan, and is one of the most rare and collectible. At 24', 3" or total 27', 2" with the tongue, it weighs 5280 lbs and cost new 3748$. Nowadays a 24' trailer on craigslist starts at 10,500$, and goes up to 27,000$.

Julia and Michael purchased Gypsy in New Orleans, Louisiana and Michael and the seller towed it with his F-250 to Chatsworth in 2016. It was remodeled and restored with much care by Julia, until opening as a guesthouse in 2018. Of its life previous to California, little is known, except that 2 elderly gentlemen lived in it at different times in the last 15 years. Wouldn't it be nice to know where else Gypsy rested and gave classy shelter to her inhabitants?