Vardo - Part 3

Charles Finn’s Microhomes

Charles Finn might just be the ultimate tiny house Renaissance Man. He’s a self-taught woodworker, an author, freelance writer, editor of the High Desert Journal, a literary and fine arts magazine, and his custom microhomes also allotted a full color spread in Lloyd Kahn’s “Tiny Homes, Simple Shelter” book. Charles … Read more

Whittled Down Caravan/Gypsy Wagon Video Tour

by Kent Griswold

Hey all, a belated happy new year, and here’s a brand new video mini-tour of “The Whittled Down” Caravan, which made a guest-structure appearance at our Tiny House Building Workshop in Massachusetts this past November (one of five tiny shelters, structures, houses, we had on site!). It was built by … Read more

Flow’s Zen Buggy

by Kent Griswold

*Update below where Flow answers some questions and includes more photos Hi, my name is Flow and I live in Humboldt county. I thought you might enjoy a peek at my new Gypsy wagon a friend and I created this summer. Designed and built in northern California using as many … Read more

1970 Caravan

by Kent Griswold

By Devorah Peterson In 1973, the year she met her future husband, a friend of mine bought a three year old caravan, an early project of Lloyd House. Since then, this treasure has been sitting in a forest clearing on an island of British Columbia. As there is no kitchen … Read more

Kootenay Lake Gypsy Wagon

by Kent Griswold

Inhabitat (one of my favorite sites) recently featured this rustic, but beautiful gypsy wagon (one of my favorite tiny houses) which sits in the forest near Kootenay Lake in British Columbia. The 8 foot by 20 foot wagon was built on a $100 salvaged 5 ton chassis, with 2×4 construction and curved rafters. It cost about $8,000 to build and took several years.

Most of the building materials for the wagon were recycled. The floor is locally milled hemlock tongue and groove and the windows were second hand finds from the local classifieds. The exterior shingles were cedar “seconds” split with a hatchet. The round window was ingeniously made from a 1970’s picnic table and is framed with rope for a natty, nautical style. The curved roof is covered with flexible metal sheeting and has two, curved Lexan skylights. The interior of the wagon is covered with stretched canvas, stapled into place and painted with white wash. Under the wagon is space for the storage of supplies and firewood.

Eliza Brownhome

by Christina Nellemann

BluebirdMama, her husband and their three small children all live in a 40-foot converted Bluebird school bus. The parents lived in the bus before the children were born, but decided to move into a “normal” house when their first child came along. However, after four years, the mobile life called … Read more

Lorna’s 1930s Shepherd’s Wagon

by Christina Nellemann

Over the course of two summers in 1945, Lorna Benedict lived in a shepherd’s wagon on a large ranch in Wyoming. During her stint as a shepherd she watched over a herd of sheep, chopped her own firewood, shot and skinned local wildlife and fished the rivers for her food.

Vardo Inspiration

by Kent Griswold

My post for today is still preparing for the traffic he might receive so I am postponing it for the time being. Cheyenne sent me some great Vardo inspiration from several sites so I thought I would give you some Vardo eye candy in todays post. I have covered George’s min vardo before here. He has a great blog with some cool photos I’d like to invite you to spend some time on it if you have interest in vardos and other hand made things. http://paleotool.com/

Tony’s Hornby Island Caravan

by Kent Griswold

Guest Post by Michelle Wilson

We’ve recently finished our latest caravan here at Hornby Island Caravans – it’s our first year round dwelling which is hugely exciting for us! This is a 10 ft. by 26 ft. caravan- the usual width for road regulations is 8″5″ but you can get a pretty inexpensive over width permit, I think it was something like $15 a day here in British Columbia and you don’t have to do the big pilot car and lights production. In my previous caravans I’ve built the side walls so they slant outward toward the top and we did consider starting with a standard width trailer frame of about 8′ and slanting the walls out to 10′, but in the end our client Tony decided that he’d rather have straight walls and have the maximum amount of floor space possible, so we had to have a wider custom trailer built. Having the extra width seems to have made quite a big difference in the feel of the place-almost everyone that has come by has remarked on how spacious it feels inside.

Photo Credits: Hornby Island Caravans

We’ve also pushed the road height limits which are 13′.6″ from the ground to the top of the roof, so the top of the ceiling is a bit over 9′. I wouldn’t make a caravan this tall if it were meant to be towed around regularly, in fact there are many things I would have done differently if that were the case, but since this is not likely to move for many years, being aerodynamic and light wasn’t as important. Tony’s reasons for choosing a caravan rather than a house were more about flexibility and having a less permanent footprint rather than moving often.

“Pee-Wee’s” Gypsy Wagon for Sale

by Christina Nellemann

This beautiful gypsy wagon, which was used as a prop in the 1988 movie “Big Top Pee-Wee” has been available for sale since the middle of last year. The wagon, restored by Gary Votapka, was originally purchased for his land in Montana, but it is still sitting in a California neighborhood waiting for its next owner. (Sold)

The vardo was in terrible shape when Gary purchased it for $10,000 and towed it from Barstow to his home in Fallbrook, Calif. The wagon had been sitting in the sun for over 20 years and gallons of desert dust and sand had settled onto the floor. Since the wagon had also been used as a prop in a movie with Pee-Wee Herman and Valeria Golino, none of the drawers opened and the cabinets were facades. Over the course of four years, Gary, his wife and son restored the gypsy wagon (by using a DVD of the movie) to its original colorful state and added a few workable cabinets and a comfortable bed.

Joseph’s Gypsy Wagons

by Christina Nellemann

Joseph Crowell has been building buses and vans for many years, but was recently inspired to build his first gypsy wagon by Sunny Baba, an activist and spiritualist who has built dozens of gypsy wagons.

Idaho Sheep Wagons

by Christina Nellemann

Kim Vader and his family have lived in Boise, Idaho since the early 1900’s. His ancestors were sheep farmers, his aunt was Basque, and their lives in the high desert have inspired Kim to design and build classic sheep wagons. This style of wagon was originally used by sheep herders who needed a portable place to live while tending their sheep in the high desert and mountains of the Western U.S.

Kim has been a craftsman for over 35 years and builds the wagons from scratch. You can purchase a finished wagon or have a custom sheep wagon built to your specifications. The wagons can be built on running gear that is freeway worthy or they can have original antique wood spoke wheels.

Typically, each wagon will have a bed with a memory foam mattress, a sitting and eating area with storage underneath, an antique wood stove or an electric stove, and a small kitchen area with custom cabinetry. They can also have several 110 electrical outlets and a storage area on the back of the wagon. The wagons are painted in traditional white and green colors and will have the classic canvas roof that is rated to last up to 10 years. The wagons are built with 2×6 Douglas fir and the cabinets and doors are built with 3/4 inch birch, pine and Douglas fir.

These sheep wagons can be used as a tiny house, on a farm or ranch, as a guest house, or an artist’s studio. Idaho Sheep Wagons also offers delivery. The prices range from about $9,000 for a 12 foot wagon to $13,500 for a wagon with original spoke wheels. Currently the company has a wagon for sale for $8,300.