Park trailers
They are small, have the look and feel of a cottage or cabin and are movable.
Recreational park trailers or “park models” are slowly popping up in the Inland Northwest.
Long popular in the Sunbelt and Midwest, park model trailers are 400-square-foot movable dwellings that are designed for part-time recreational use. Most are 12 feet wide and 33 feet long.
They are extremely popular with retirees who want to escape to warmer climates in the winter and not pay the high costs of buying a condo or house.
Park models typically retail in the mid-$30,000 range and often include bay windows, lofts, wood cabinetry and normal residential sized bathrooms and kitchens.
Most park trailers are placed in commercial campgrounds, where sites typically lease for $1,500 to $4,000 per year, depending on location.
Some owners, however, place their units on private property and use them as vacation dwellings, subject to local zoning requirements.
Mike and Carolyn Miotke of Deer Park purchased their park model from Parkway RV two years ago.
“We put it on our Long Lake property and use it as our summer place,” said Mike Miotke, owner of the Double Eagle Pawn Shops.
“It has a real cute cabin design, complete with loft,” said Miotke. “We put a big porch all the way around because we spend a lot of time outside when we’re there.”
Lezlie and Brian Finet of Veradale have owned their park model for more than a dozen years.
They bought it while living in Sonoma, Calif., and placed it on their riverfront property. They shipped it to the Spokane area when they moved here in the mid-‘90s.
Brian Finet, former owner of Milestone RV Center in Spokane Valley, placed their Silvercrest Chalet-style park model on his lot as a sales model.
“When Brian retired a couple years ago,” said clay artist Lezlie Finet, “I thought it would make a nice studio, so we set it up on the hillside.”
The Finets removed the bed and living room furniture.
“The bedroom is now my throwing room,” said Lezlie, “and I do my hand building and glazing in the front room where I also have a little gallery.”
Park models at RV Show
Parkway RV of Deer Park represents both Skyline and Cavco park model manufactures and is displaying four units at the Inland Northwest RV Show beginning its four-day run today at the Spokane Fair and Expo Center.
“We’re showing both the Skyline Forest Brook and Seaview models,” says, Jeff Wagner, owner of Parkway RV. “The Forest Brook has the appearance of a small yellow and green cottage.”
Skyline RV, headquartered in Elkhart, Ind., produces both manufactured homes and recreational vehicles. The company recently built a plant in McMinnville, Ore.
“We feel there is an increasing demand in the Pacific Northwest,” said company representative Brad Kempton. In Washington there are park model developments on the Olympic Peninsula and in the Puget Sound area.
“The park trailer industry is continuing to enjoy the strongest growth we’ve experienced in three decades,” said William Garpow, executive director of the Recreational Park Trailer Industry Association from his office in Newnan, Ga.
RPTIA reported an 11 percent increase in sales during 2005 over calendar 2004, which was up 30 percent over 2003.
“Demand is being fueled by rising real estate costs, which are prompting retirees and working professionals with families to seek out more affordable options in vacation homes,” said Garpow.
“There are growing numbers of baby boomers who are retired and are selling their homes,” added Jeff Crider, RPTIA spokesperson. “They are buying two park models. They will keep one up north and one down south. They go wherever the weather is best and get the best of both worlds.”