This Custom, Two-Story 1953 Spartan Manor Trailer Is an Absolute Dream

Any parent would move mountains for their kids, or so they say. This parent, a carpenter by the name of Merrill Williams, used his carpenter’s skills to build a two-story, mobile family home for his two girls because, let’s face it, moving mountains is not a particularly useful endeavor unless they stand in your way.

In the process, Williams created what is believed to be one of the few double-deckers of the ‘50s in the United States, as well as the first trailer with a slide-out. This impressive trailer doesn’t have a personalized name, so it goes by the ‘53 two-story Spartan Manor online. Shirley Wallace, its last known owner and one of Williams’ two daughters, calls it her childhood home.

Back in 2014, RVTravel correspondent Chuck Woodbury tracked down Shirley, in the hope to find out more about the iconic Californian double-deck trailer. On the occasion, he was able to film the only tour of the two-story Spartan, which you will find available below. All trace of the trailer seems to have been lost afterwards, but even so, to this day, it still pops up in RV-centric conversations online. With good reason, this custom build is considered the ultimate dream RV – family or no family.

Williams’ job as a finishing carpenter required him to travel throughout California constantly and, with a wife and two girls to take care of, he wasn’t willing to leave them behind. In 1953, he bought a Spartan Manor, one of the trailers offered by the Oklahoma-based Spartan Aircraft Company. Initially specialized in building personal aircraft, and then offering a wider range of aircraft components, Spartan had reoriented towards the RV market in 1935, when oil tycoon J. Paul Getty bought a majority stake.

The first Spartan Manor prototype was introduced in 1945, with the first production units rolling out that same year. An entire diverse lineup followed suit, so Spartan covered most segments of the booming market. The Manor model was just what the name implied: a proper home on wheels, with all the comforts of one – and a price to match.

The Manor served the Williams family for the first years but, by 1957, it had become clear that it was no longer enough for the growing girls. They slept on the couch in the rear, with the parents in the master bedroom at the front end. Williams decided – and proceeded – to expand the trailer upwards that same year.

He bought parts from Spartan and built a second floor that housed the girls’ separate bedrooms. To give them the impression of separate rooms (as opposed to a loft) and more headroom, he dropped a section of the floor of the second story into the ground floor. It’s what Shirley calls a “box” in the video below, located above the dining area and the fridge in the kitchen. This helps with keeping the trailer at 13.5 feet (4.1 meters) high, so it could still clear bridges and passageways.

Inside, the Williams’ home offered a living room with the now-vacated couch, a dining area, and a full kitchen with double sink, stove and refrigerator. It even included a custom slide-out, which Williams build just so his wife would have room for her newly-acquired organ. The bathroom was also a full one, with sink and shower, and a toilet. For the conversion, the wardrobe in the master bedroom was sacrificed for the wooden stairway leading up to the girls’ rooms.

When Shirley gave this tour, she and the double-decker Spartan had been reunited after many years. She lived in it between ages three and 16, when she left for college in 1969, and she traveled through several cities during this time. The trailer stayed with the family after that, but was sidelined once her mother passed away. When her father died too, Shirley brought the trailer – and the ‘50s Chevy pickup that was used to tow it – back to California.

At the time of the tour, the Spartan was in need of a good clean-up and restoration, but still retained the homey feel, which offers a good appreciation of how awesome it must’ve been back in the day. Whether it was ever restored or not is unknown, so just enjoy this for what is was: a beautiful example of skill and fatherly love, which turned a trailer into a beautiful custom home on wheels.