Gypsy Wagon - Part 2

Hornby Island Caravans

Michelle Wilson contacted me recently about a new business she started called Hornby Island Caravans located in Canada. She recently delivered her first caravan to a customer and wanted me to share with you her project. Here is a little about Michelle and her business goals.

I aim to create spaces that have a sense of warmth and character. It is very important to me that my caravans are built with natural, healthy materials and that they are designed in such a way that is mindful of the client’s needs. I spend a great deal of time in the planning stage thinking about how the space will be used and, with that in mind, how to use every bit of space in the best possible way.

I certainly want the caravans that I build to be beautiful but I think even more importantly I want that certain magical quality that you find in buildings which are made with creativity, attention to detail and an appreciation for the materials being used. My aim is for the customer to feel a sense of wellness and comfort in my buildings. If they do then I’ve accomplished my goal.

Woodworking and Building a Gypsy Wagon Course

by Kent Griswold

Tim Lawson from Port Townsend School of Woodworking contacted me about an upcoming workshop starting in January. A three month Foundation course that includes furniture making, cabinetmaking and Gypsy Wagon (or Tiny House) building as focus areas for the project part of the course. Tim says: “We’ve always wanted to … Read more

Santa Fe Gypsy Wagon

by Kent Griswold

Libby who is building her own Bow Top Gypsy Wagon with her husband was recently visiting Santa Fe, New Mexico and discovered this old Gypsy Wagon. Though a totally different design than theirs they enjoyed looking it over and getting ideas that they might be able to incorporate into their own vardo. Libby especially liked the slide out table which comes out from under the bed.

Libby wishes she would have had her digital camera but was able to get these photos with their iPhone. Thank you Libby!

Pedalpalooza: Tour of Southeast Portland Tiny Homes

by Kent Griswold

Following is a guest post by my friend Tammy Strobel who publishes the Rowdy Kittens Blog.

Shift is an organization in Portland that brings people together for bike based fun. Every year Shift facilitates an amazing event called Pedalpalooza, that spans a 2 week period.

With 291 events, most organized by individuals, bikers of all persuasions are likely to find many events of interest. Nearly all events are free.

A few weeks ago Eli Spevak, from Orange Splot, LLC, organized a Pedalpalooza ride featuring tiny homes. A group of 150 cyclists gathered for the tiny home tour, in Southeast Portland.

We stopped at six tiny homes and saw a number of different housing styles, including: a 14 x 8 gypsy wagon, a little house made of cob, a nanny’s house on wheels, a straw-bail tiny house that is being used as a detached bedroom, an urban village, and a cute little home that was converted from a garage to a little cottage.

Woodie Love Bug

by Christina Nellemann

In celebration of summer and for Kent heading off to Hawaii, I thought I would do a post on these vintage style trailers by Dayton Taylor and Vintage Trailer Crazy. Part trailer, part Woodie station wagon, these 19–(Any Year) Woodie Love Bugs can be manufactured to match your tow vehicle, birth year or whatever theme you want…including “Surf’s Up.”

Each trailer is 12 feet long and weighs 1,200 pounds. They are custom made with hand built oak and birch walls and cabinets. The Vintage Trailer Crazy design team will consult with you to create your custom Woodie Love Bug. These trailers are built new from the ground up, but use VIN numbers from vintage 1930-1950 trailers. Over 500 man-hours go into the production of each little trailer. They cost around $12,500 and Dayton told me that they sell a lot of them, primarily because of the popularity of smaller trailers.

Contemporary Prairie Schooner

by Kent Griswold

Libby Reinish and Tristan Chambers contacted me about a project they are working on and wanted to share with you.

My partner and I are building a bow-top gypsy wagon and documenting our progress on www.whittleddown.com. This is our first tiny house, and we will be moving into it in one month, when we depart our home in Santa Fe, NM and begin a cross-country move to New England. We plan to live in the wagon for the remaining warm months of the year, and haven’t entirely ruled out retrofitting it for winter living later. The wagon is based on a gypsy wagon design, but we like to think of it as a contemporary take on the prairie schooner.

Our gypsy wagon design meets our three main goals: 1) To build a home for just over what we currently pay for a month’s rent ($1500 total), 2) To build a portable home that can be towed by my Hyundai Elantra, which has a 1,000 lb tow rating, and 3) To find a design that provides all our basic needs (food prep, sleep, electricity, toilet) in a small space.