The following is a press release written by fellow Vistabule owner, Jim Winterer
Family-run teardrop trailer manufacturer reaches milestone
as it puts finishing touches on Vistabule No. 1,000
The 14-year-old St. Paul company was a “final-four” finalist last
month in the “Coolest Thing Made in Minnesota” contest.
St. Paul, Minn. — Craftsmen at the Vistabule Teardrop Trailer company are working on a special project this week: putting finishing touches on the 14-year-old company’s 1,000th trailer.
The owner is scheduled to pick up the milestone Vistabule on Wednesday, Nov. 12, at company headquarters in the former American Can Co. building at 755 Prior Ave. in St. Paul’s Midway neighborhood.
Company founder and president Bert Taylor, 74, is what some would call “a maker.” He holds a bachelor’s degree in fine arts, with a focus on sculpture and painting, from the University of Minnesota. But he also had a shop loaded with carpentry tools and earlier in his career founded Waves of Grain Woodworking where he designed and built furniture.
Taylor and his wife, Gretchen, enjoyed tent camping and Bert spent years canoeing in the Boundary Waters. In 2012 he bought plans for a teardrop trailer and started building it in his garage. “I was halfway through when I could see it was not a good design,” he recalled. “It was cramped and with just one small window, it was dark and uninviting.”
Combining his backgrounds in camping, art, and furniture design and manufacturing, Taylor came up with an idea for a teardrop trailer that would be unlike any other. It was a trailer that could fit in a garage, have an almost queen-size bed that could convert to a couch, have plenty of storage and a nicely equipped kitchen, and could be towed by almost any car. Most of all, it had to have windows. Lots of windows.
“Most teardrops are designed primarily for sleeping,” Taylor explains. “I wanted to design one that lets you sit in comfort and enjoy viewing the beauty outside too.”
The name Vistabule is related to the vestibule of a tent or a house but also to the vista provided by the trailer’s unique large front window. When towing a Vistabule, the many windows allow you to see through the trailer and check on traffic behind you.
“Bert spent months trying to come up with the name Vistabule,” his wife recalled. “Everywhere he went he had a pad of paper or a napkin and was thinking about names, writing them down, modifying them, coming up with others, and he finally landed on Vistabule.”
Taylor quickly outgrew his garage and started building teardrops in the Casket Arts building in Northeast Minneapolis. In 2015 they moved to their Midway St. Paul headquarters, often referred to by Vistabule owners as “the mothership.”
Vistabule No. 1, which Taylor sold in late 2012, is still on the road and recently sold for more than the first buyer paid for it. Of the other 998 Vistabules out there, all but one are still in use. The one not running was badly damaged in a rear-end car accident. Vistabules can be found in every state but Hawaii, many Canadian provinces, and recently, one went to Japan.
The company builds 10 to 12 trailers per month. Each is custom-made to order; with more than 50 available options, and with a choice of six colors, few are identical. Wait time for delivery is now about two or three months. During the Covid years, wait times were as long as 18 months.
Depending on options, the price for a Vistabule can range from $24,000 to $35,000. Popular options include heating and air-conditioning, a well-equipped galley kitchen, electric brakes, and solar-panel systems that reduce the need for a generator or electric “shore power.” Last year the company began offering a smaller version of a teardrop, called the DayTripper, that starts at $15,000.
A Vistabule hallmark is precision craftsmanship and extensive use of light-colored Baltic birch. Tapping his furniture-making background, Taylor selected the wood — often used in modern and Scandinavian furniture — for its strength and beauty.
In addition to Bert Tayor who is owner and president, his daughter, Lily, is chief administrative officer. Wife Gretchen, retired after a long career as a researcher with the Minnesota Department of Health, works on special projects for Vistabule including annual camping rallies that can bring together more than 100 of the little trailers at the same time. Brother-in-law Steve Corcoran is the company’s chief operating officer and financial officer.
Altogether, a dozen men and women have a role in hand-building trailers at the St. Paul location. Several other employees at Great River Woodworking in Scandia create the Baltic birch pieces that go into each Vistabule.
Bert Taylor said he knew he would enjoy coming to work each day “to work on these really cool and unique things that bring together art and function.”
“But a reward that I wasn’t expecting was how emotional people are about their trailers,” he said. “It is very gratifying to make something that brings people such great joy. That, and the sense of community that has formed around this little trailer.”
Vistabule voted finalist in state’s “Coolest Thing” contest.
Even people who don’t own a Vistabule appear to like them, at least according to the results of the second-annual Coolest Thing Made in Minnesota contest sponsored recently by the Minnesota Chamber of Commerce. (Winner of the inaugural Coolest Thing contest last year was 3M’s Scotch tape.)
The contest starts with nominations for 64 products. Members of the public then cast online votes for those 64 items in tournament-style match-ups. After five rounds of voting and thousands of votes cast, four products were still in the running.
The winner of the Coolest Thing, announced at the 2025 Manufacturer’s Summit October 7, was Polaris’ military-grade MRZR off-road vehicle.
Who won the second, third and fourth places was not announced, but the three others in the final four were the G7+ aircraft from Cirrus, the Trackchair all-terrain wheelchair from ATZ, and the Vistabule trailer.
“Reaching the Final Four is a huge accomplishment, said Doug Loon, president and CEO of the Minnesota Chamber of Commerce.
“These four finalists capture the best of Minnesota’s innovation, craftsmanship and creativity,” the chamber said in making the announcement.
Related Posts
Primitive Camping: How to Survive and Thrive in the Backcountry
When it comes to getting off the grid, the act of primitive camping is an excellent escape for the adventurous. Away from the annoyances of raucous campers and expenses of campground reservations, you gain a true sense of freedom, while participating in a purely self-reliant backcountry experience.
