This Vintage Airstream Retreat Has Hollywood Stars for Neighbors.
AIRSTREAM VINTAGE TRAILER ADVENTURE is managed by an amazing couple called Murray and Kay.
They live in a house on a hill next to Nicolas Cage’s private house. Kay is a Hollywood independent producer. Her reality series, Dog Whisperer, lasted nine seasons over an eight-year period and was aired in 200 countries. The show had a whopping 10 million viewers each week in the US and won an Emmy nomination.
Murray has worked in eight different occupations, including mechanic and stage designer. He builds houses, restores trailers, has horses, and keeps bees. In 2012, for their 27th wedding anniversary, they moved a vintage trailer to the top of their property and had a wine, special meal and sunrise viewing. This romantic happened to have staying power.
Instead of moving the trailer back down, they left it up there and converted it to a vacation rental. The trailer was filled with positive memories from the couple and has somehow become a popular spot for guests to propose.
They eventually made two trailers available to guests. The property has two rooms, accommodating four people. It operates on a self-catering basis and guests are expected to be water and electricity conscious. Despite the limitations, the rental hosted 7,000 guests in five years and was booked almost every day. Most reservations for this place have to be done 2 months in advance.
While an editor from the Los Angeles Times was staying at the site discreetly, they wrote about the property and included Murray’s trailer rentals as one of the seven places to visit in Los Angeles. Ricky, who is said to be a principal producer of The Simpsons, also left a note in the guest book.
Before Murray and Kay got married, they had a friendship that lasted a decade. However, that friendship became a romantic relationship only after Kay divorced. 1994 was the year that they purchased 160,000 square meters of land located about 45 minutes from Los Angeles. Murray built their house on his own, in addition to bringing along his beloved vintage trailers.
Five years before this was documented, Murray was trying to find a good spot to surprise Kay for their 27th anniversary. He was unable to find anything on the Internet, but eventually realized that the perfect place was right in his own house.
From their hilltop platform, they can see 360 degrees of the Santa Monica Mountains and the Pacific Ocean if they look far enough. It’s also rumored that they can see Nicolas Cage’s house.
Without Kay knowing, Murray had moved a trailer to the top of the hill. He set up a sun umbrella and lounge chairs, and poured some wine. He basically created an anniversary getaway right outside their home.
One of the Seven Most Worthwhile Places to Visit in Los Angeles
After their anniversary, Murray decided not to take the trailer back down. He thought a striking 1957 vintage model in a setting like this deserved to be left up there.
Kay once encountered a guest who appeared to be very sad as she came to the event by herself. They started to speak to each other, and the woman revealed that she lost her mother a week before. She mentioned that she and her mother used to sit on the couch and watch Dog Whisperer together. When Kay told her that she was the producer of the show, the guest was over the moon and felt like her mom set up the meeting.
Besides the rental, Murray takes care of over a dozen animals. His home includes two dogs, two cats, a parrot, two horses, and several chickens, all rescues.
At the same time he cares for beehives as a hobby. The local area is known to produce particularly good honey. One winter he harvested 56 kg of honey and gave it as Christmas gifts to friends and family, and they loved it.
When asked if running the rental, feeding the horses, and beekeeping was tiring, or if the thought of retirement ever crossed his mind, Murray answered both no's. While many Americans retire at age 65, he was 71 at the time, and Kay was a few years older than that.
Murray and Kay
As long as his health permits, Murray hopes to continue operating the trailer rental to give more vintage-trailer enthusiasts the opportunity to stay there. He acknowledged that he felt bad that the work obligations kept him from being able to travel with Kay more.
At that time, he was fixing his own trailer, intending to take Kay to Mexico for Christmas to catch up on the trips he missed.
Trailer Details
Location: Murray & Kay’s listing is in Malibu, California, United States.
Indicative Price: Weekend rate RMB 1,060 per night; 10% discount for bookings of 7 days or more.
Booking Conditions: A two-night stay is required. From September 1, 2017, to November 30, 2017, a two-night stay was required.
