Caravan Couture: Club Jupiter
From Pontins to Palm Springs, Club Jupiter could be the start of a whole new caravanning experience, writes Marijke Hall
All Images: Joanna Bongard
There’s a new static caravan on the block – or rather, park – proving beige is well and truly out and fabulous is in.
It’s kitsch, it’s Seventies, it’s Pontins meets Palm Springs and it’s called Club Jupiter.
Set on a caravan park in Birchington, it’s the brainchild of three mates, interior stylist Emma Jane Palin, travel writer Anna Hart and Whinnie Williams, founder of interior brand Poodle & Blonde and presenter of BBC 3’s new renovation show Flat Out Fabulous.
The trio met while living on the same street in Margate and with time on their hands during lockdown decided to combine their creative forces and create arguably the coolest caravan this side of the Atlantic.
They admit it’s quite a rogue addition to Birchington Vale Holiday Park and a project that raised a few eyebrows on the site when they first revealed their intention of a 1970s-themed, Palm Springs-style rental holiday home.
“The caravan site is so quintessentially British and they honestly just thought we were absolutely bonkers,” says Emma. “The people that own caravans were so curious the whole way through. But now they’re all super on board with it. They love it.”
The idea came about after Emma, who had been having weekly catch-ups with the other two, spotted a pre-loved 2010 Willerby BK Bluebird caravan while scrolling through Rightmove.
“I said to Whinnie that we should renovate a caravan and she said she’d always wanted to do that as her dad lives in one. Then I texted Anna and she said yes straight away.
“Two days later we went down to Birchington Vale, had a look round and they showed us our caravan on a bit of paper with thumbnail images because it wasn’t actually due in until the week after.
“They were showing us all these fancier options, but we fell in love with this little piece of paper and this really retro caravan.
“They wouldn’t let us put down a deposit for it because there’s such huge demand for the lower-priced caravans, so as soon as it came in we had to drive to the site and put our money down for it immediately.”
Their combined love of mid-century design meant they already knew what theme their caravan would take.
The main living area would be 1970s and each had a bedroom to design themselves however they wished.
“They’re all different but link in with this very Americana-themed hotel/motel,” Emma explains. “We all love the main living space with the greens and blues, it’s really calming.
“Whinnie calls it the calm before the storm because it’s a nice area to hang out in and then the bedrooms are just wild.”
She admits it took a while to all come together and two weeks before the big reveal it was still a way off from their vision.
“It was hard to see where it was actually going and I was thinking we wouldn’t have it ready,” says Emma. “Trying to renovate a caravan, which is essentially like a small three-bed flat, while doing our day jobs was quite tricky.”
The women upcycled as much as possible, sourcing vintage fabrics from their favourite junk stores around Margate and scouring eBay and Facebook marketplace.
“We even found our brass kitchen sink in a skip,” says Whinnie. “We wanted to deliver a Palm Springs desert modern aesthetic, but we’ve tried to DIY things as much as possible to show people that anyone can bring Hollywood vibes into even the smallest of spaces.”
Once completed, reservations started pouring in and so far, Emma says, the feedback has been lovely.
“We all had those nerves before the launch and there was a lot of anticipation in the sense that everyone was telling us how amazing it looked and how much they were loving the renovation and then we were, like, ‘What if we don’t meet people’s expectations?’ in the final reveal,” she admits. “But it’s safe to say that people like it at this point.
“We did say that it’s our mission to get on the front of a caravan magazine, to be the cover girls!”
“People are saying they can’t believe it’s a caravan, which I think is kind of ‘job done’ in what we were trying to do in pushing this concept of caravans not always having this beige, old feel.
“We wanted to turn that on its head and I think that’s why we went so extreme.”
Anna hopes Club Jupiter will also put caravans back on the map for a whole new generation of travellers.
“British caravan holidays are long overdue a revival – they offer an achievable form of adventure and escapism,” she says. “Caravans are also a relatively sustainable and community-minded option because they don’t remove a property from the rental market, as holiday home rental sites do.”
So will they do it again?
Emma says they would never say never if the right thing came up.
“We’re actually working closely with the manufacturer of our caravan and doing a bit of stuff with them around how to refresh the style of caravans and how they can be done up to your own taste,” she adds.
The humble caravan, it seems, is now in the blood of the three women.
Emma laughs: “We did say that it’s our mission to get on the front of a caravan magazine, to be the cover girls!”
WEB: www.clubjupiter.co.uk INSTA: @ClubJupiterUK.
