By Christina Nellemann

Because of their size and aesthetics, tiny houses lend themselves to being named: weeHouse, Tumbleweed, Box Turtle. Rarely do you see a 3,500 square foot house with a name.

Kevin Rose named his mobile house Gypsy Rose, after his last name and the fact that his lifestyle in this tiny house and aboard his boat (Raven) is somewhat footloose. Any similarity to the famous stripper, Gypsy Rose Lee, is purely coincidental, he said.

Kevin told me that the idea for Gypsy Rose was completely independent of the “small house movement” that has recently gained in popularity, and that simplicity and functionality were the primary criteria in designing the house.

“I live on a boat on Lake Champlain in Vermont for 7 months a year and had a need for winter accommodations,” he said. “My friend Marion had a need for summer accommodations on the land she owns in eastern Vermont. One day I called her up and suggested that we build a mobile cabin that we could share between the two locations. We designed it ourselves based on the maximum dimensions allowable on the highway without a permit (8.5 feet wide by 13.5 feet high) and my experience with efficient use of space on boats.”

The trailer for Gypsy Rose was custom made and Rose did the rest of the framing and details himself. Gypsy Rose is self contained and off the grid. It uses many systems that were developed for marine applications. She operates primarily on 12V electrical systems whose batteries will ultimately be charged by solar or small-scale hydro (with a generator backup). Propane powers the stove, the refrigerator, the furnace, and the on-demand hot water heater and a composting toilet handles the waste.

Rose’s passion for nature, sustainability and creating a sense of place is evident in his blog which documents the process of building Gypsy Rose, and his life around the New England area.

Ecomodder: Building Gypsy Rose

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By Christina Nellemann

When I was a child, my favorite book was “Danny, the Champion of the World” by Roald Dahl. Danny and his father live in a gypsy caravan in the English countryside in the 1950s and run a small gas station. Adventure ensues when Danny finds out his father is secretly poaching pheasants on a wealthy neighbor’s land. I loved the story, but loved the idea of living in a colorful gypsy caravan even more.

Dahl had a caravan in his garden that was the inspiration for Danny’s home. The typical gypsy caravan has been around for over 100 years and they still evoke a feeling of romance and adventure and can be a tiny, beautiful, ornate house on wheels.

Caravans or wagons built to live in were developed in France around 1810. Gypsies have only been using caravans as their main living and working space since 1850. The gypsy name for a caravan was vardo, from the Iranian word vurdon or cart. Newly married couples would commission a coach builder to create their colorful home on wheels. They took between 6 to 12 months to build and were made of oak, ash, elm, walnut and pine. They were then ornately painted carved and decorated with gold leaf.

There are six main types of caravans: the Brush or “fen waggon” which lacks the ornate wooden carvings, the Reading with sloping walls, the Ledge with a narrower floor and more elbow room, the Bowtop and the Openlot, which use a stretched canvas top over a wooden frame, and the Burton which was for more wealthy travellers. Most caravans were, and still are, pulled by draft horses, but you can design and build a caravan to be pulled by a car.

Though few people would choose to travel in one today, you can experience a fully functional caravan on your own property as a romantic getaway or guest accommodations, a creative studio, a personal meditation or healing space, or just an exquisite conversation piece. If you are traveling in Europe, you can rent a gypsy caravan (including the horses) and travel between campgrounds. Some hotels even have gypsy caravan “rooms” that you can stay in overnight.

If you are looking to build a gypsy caravan or have one built for you, there are several builders and plans available. Again, most of these builders are in Europe.

Windy Smithy

Ingham & Fallon

The New Gypsy Caravan

Gypsy Caravan Company

Gypsy Caravan Built by Brian Schmittling

Daphne’s Caravans

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Michael Janzen who is building the Tiny Free House also is quite the designer himself. He recently started a blog called Tiny House Design and has started adding a few of his own small or tiny house designs to it. A few weeks ago Michael spotted a cool little Austrian hotel room online built from a large concrete storm drain pipe. He decided to take this idea and design a 320 square foot house using 12 foot diameter pipe. I’ll let him explain it in more detail below.

I chose to imagine using four big 12 foot diameter by 8 foot long sections as the basic building blocks for this concept home. This seems to be the largest standard size concrete pipe you can buy. After adding flat floors the total square footage of four of these big pipes would be about 320 square feet. Not exactly a tiny house but definitely small and plenty of space for a small home or vacation rental.

I think this design works the best. It would be the simplest to build and would require the least amount of on-site concrete work. The four sections could also be lined up in a row but the entry would be lost. The southern orientation adds a passive solar benefit and would help warm the home in the summer. The added insulation provided by the earth berms would provide the thermal mass needed to naturally regulate temperature year round. Only the main living space faces south but I think this would be sufficient to keep the space comfortable. Placing the bedroom in the back would also give the home owner a place to escape on particularly hot days.

Go to the Tiny House Design site to learn more. Michael made a total of four designs using this concept so be sure and check them all out.

Design by Michael Janzen (click on picture to view larger image)

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