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.

Gary has created a website to sell the vardo and hopes that someone with a unique B&B or a penchant for tiny homes will be interested in the whimsical wagon.

Photos courtesy of Gypsy Vardo Wagon. Bottom photo courtesy of North County Times.

By Christina Nellemann for the [Tiny House Blog]

Tumbleweed is also having a Holiday Sale and in my opinion the best deal is the workshops. Tumbleweeed is giving 40% off of the usual price and that is a bargain in my humble opinion. Click here to go to the Workshop page and than click on the workshop you would like to attend, the discout is given on that page.

Tumbleweed is also offering 40% off of certain books and plans and if you click on the graphics below you will be taken to the sales page for that item. The sale ends November 30 so if you have been waiting to buy one of these items, now is the time to do it.

I just finished designing and building my first micro-home. I am a theatrical designer who has taken a detour this year to build something sustainable. It is made almost entirely out of repurposed and recycled materials.

It is 12 ft. X 7 ft. with a 3 ft. tow hitch. The interior is cedar-lined and has a wood burning stove, designer interior, stand-up shower inside the bed, lots of storage, composting toilet hidden in the chair, solar chandelier and gravity water.

It is built simply with simple parts and is easy to care for. It seats 4-6 people inside for dinner.

A wooden rod runs along one edge of the roof for hanging a designer awning. The tires are brand new and it comes with lots of safety features such as carbon monoxide detector, fire alarm, fire extinguisher, LED lights, and a machete which can be very useful outdoors. The 40 Watt portable solar panel, inverter, and lithium ion are battery all included. The door is only 19 inches wide and adds an instant charm along with the curved roof and scalloped flashing. The chimney is triple walled and the stove easily slides out for summer cooking or cleaning.

It is insulated on all 4 walls, ceiling and floor to withstand a blizzard. It is wrapped in Tyvek House Wrap for weatherproofing as well.

The shingles are rated to withstand hurricane winds. Weight- 3,300 lbs. This place is solid! And gorgeous! Ready to move in! $16,500 includes everything.

[View with PicLens]

Most of the designs we see out there resort to the loft for a bed. This saves precious floor space for living. However, this is not ideal for everyone. Unfortunately, at this time I only know of a few designs that take an alternative route to the loft – so I thought I would do a post to highlight these houses. My goal is to inspire others to design more homes with alternative sleeping quarters other than a loft.

The oldest version of a tiny home on wheels that I am aware of is the vardo or gypsy wagon. These homes were designed with a bed that sits up high and has storage below. You still need to crawl up a little to get in, but it is nothing like climbing a ladder. There are not many plans out there for this type of home. The only one I know that is available the “Don Vardo” by Portland Alternative Dwellings. While it is not a complete house I think the plans could be extended to make it into one with a kitchen and bathroom. Dee Williams from Portland Alternative Dwellings and I once talked about this revision and she may have even completed the plans by now. You can get an idea by looking at the picture of the Don Vardo here and a vardo picture I have included above in this post.

(Dee just sent word that she has the 12 foot vardo available which features a bathroom and kitchen. The plans are now available here for only $30. They are in the process of having one built out in Florida and I will share photos, etc. as soon as it is completed.)

12 foot Don Vardo Floor Plan

Another home not using a loft is Dan Louche’s house plans. He designed his home for his mother and she did not want a loft. She uses a futon in the living area as a bed and it is working great for her. You can view Dan’s plans here and check out his blog of the construction of the home here.

Jay Shafer is popular for his loft based tiny homes on wheels the Tumbleweed Tiny Houses. Jay has pretty much stuck with this type of plan except for his most affordable plan – the Popomo. You receive this plan free if you purchase his book or you can buy it alone for $16.95. This is a very modern home, in fact they have just completed building the first one and I had a chance to see it a couple of weeks ago. If modern is not your style, don’t worry, the exterior can be customized to suit your tastes. Here is a picture of the Popomo that Tumbleweed Tiny House Company recently completed. You can see more pictures at their website. Click here to see them.

Tumbleweed Popomo

If you are aware of any other homes on wheels that have not used the loft bedroom please share them with me and the other readers below. Let’s get some new ideas and plans out there for those who need or want this option.

Popomo Interior via Tumbleweed Tiny House Company

We have just recently completed our 2nd caravan, the Sandpiper (named after our neighbourhood), which is 8’ by 16’ and was commissioned by a very lovely and talented couple-one is a well known double bassist and the other is a fabulous graphics designer.

What they needed was some extra space for guests, a place to work and also a place to play music. There were more specific requests as well, first of all, since a double bass is not a small instrument it had to have a special spot worked into the design (in between the desk and cupboards), also it’s case needed a storage spot which is under the bed. They also wanted a sense of airiness rather than a cozy feel, which was achieved with the high ceilings, white walls and a whole lot of windows, one of which was a beautiful, antique leaded glass window that they’d been holding onto for years.

I was also asked to make use of driftwood as I had done in my first caravan, which I was very happy to do- not only does it give the caravans a lovely beach feel but it means that I get to go ‘shopping’ for wood on the beach which is something I love to do. Since they liked the look, I used driftwood on all of the shelf supports over the bed and cupboards, the diagonal desk supports, the coat hooks and hooks for a violin and bow. As this caravan was intended for a specific site, the windows, painted to match their cabin’s windows, were placed in such a way that would allow for the nicest views, with the exception of the high leaded window which allows in light but creates some privacy from the neighbouring property.

As with the Vorizo, our 1st caravan (named after our postal code), we built with natural, healthy materials as much as possible- Rock wool insulation, beautiful woods, refurbished wood windows and eco friendly paints and finishes. Environmentally there are obvious reasons to use eco friendly materials but is important to me that the space is a healthy one for the occupant as well.

We’ve just started on our first live-in caravan, a 10’ by 26’ space with a kitchen, bed, desk , reading nook and storage. It will have a wash house (bathroom, washer/dryer and extra food storage) that will be built separately . Once the caravan arrives the two buildings will be attached by a breezeway . You can follow our progress on Hornby Island Caravan’s Facebook page , you’ll find a link to that on our web site which is http://ww.hornbyislandcaravans.com

Tumbleweed Vardo Plans – $15.95

The Vardo is not officially a tiny house but more of a sleeping camper, great for getaways to the mountains or the beach or as a guest room for your tiny home. There is no bathroom or kitchen, just a sleeping area and storage.

If you are unsure of your building skills this little project would be a great way to learn the basic carpentry skills and come out with a wonderful little project you could show off to your friends and family. Tumbleweed estimates the cost to build the Vardo to be around $2,500 (minus the optional heater).

The vardo can be placed on a small trailer and towed or put on the back of a pickup such as the Ford F-150.

The plans include 14 pages:

Get the details about the Tumbleweed Vardo Plans – $15.95

Need to be on site for the entire build to test nontoxic materials for tolerance. Vardo will have compost toilet, outdoor shower on porch, simple sink setup inside with grey water tank and hose hookup, very small hot water tank, wired with shielded wiring for both 12 volt and 110, curved metal or very thin ceramic roof, tile floors, either dragon board or very low terpene wood walls.

If wood walls, they will be tongue and groove. Denim or wool insulation, a breathable wall system to minimize mold, and good ventilation including built in fans. No plywood, formaldehyde, laminates, styrofoam, vinyl, urethane, fiberglass, etc. Possibly some other features adapted from small rv’s I’ve seen. Take a look at Portland Alternative Dwellings’ Don Vardo for an example of a beautiful simple vardo.

I need to keep costs down as I have set aside funds but am planning to be frugal where possible. If someone has time and interest, please write me with your fees for such a project, previous experience etc., where you live, if you have land where we can build and a good metal shed to store construction materials, your schedule, and any other relevanr information.

Prefer southeast, Texas, or possibly southwest for the build, ie a climate that is warm and sunny, and hoping to start late spring. Don’t want to build up north. If you want to travel to live on site for the build I can possibly find us a spot. I’ve been told it can take 400-500 hours for the total build. Both some experience in carpentry/construction and patience, as well as willingness to work with all nontoxic materials, is important. Thanks!

Please email jenbooks13@hotmail.com if interested.

Yesterday I received an email from Australia from “Gypsy” or Kushti Bok who has been rejected or taken off of previous insurers once they see his unique mobile Vardo. He is trying to find a new insurer and is asking for help.

I need your help in answering this question. Those of you have have tiny houses, especially on wheels, how do you insure your home? If you live in a trailer based tiny house, bus conversion, house truck,  or vardo, how do you insure it? Please respond in the comment section and share your knowledge with the rest of us.

Click here to view more pictures of the Kushti Bok Kombi.

Abel Zimmerman a friend and neighbor to Dee Williams from Olympia, Washington contacted me recently about his vardo he built for himself and to let me know he will build them for others too.

Abel says: “I have a family in Olympia Washington. (we use the vardo as a backyard getaway and extra room for now) I plan to do some summer vardo sabbaticals with the whole family — perhaps in the mountains.”

If you would like to contact Abel here is his contact information: dba: Zyl Vardos and Periscopa Lighting zylvardos@gmail.com

Thanks Abel for sharing your vardo and I hope others are inspired to create their own tiny home.

This is my home-built trailer using classic and modern building techniques and style. Based on traveler’s and “gypsy” wagons from Britain and France as well as sheep wagons from the western U.S. I am keeping this to the absolute minimum in size and weight. I don’t plan to live in it so it can be thought of a base camp. I have mulled it over for a very long time and was torn between this style and a teardop design. Each have advantages but this just seems to suit me better.

My final design is certainly not perfect but fit within the very tight parameters I set for myself. Small, light, and relatively cheap were important as were ascetics and traditional building techniques. Unlike modern RVs where people may spend large quantities of time inside the structure, I want this to be used more like early pioneer or “Gypsy” wagons where most of the actual living is done “outside”. The teardrop RV community has taken this to heart, often with a very modern and high-tech design, including microwave ovens, television and entertainment centers, and very modern kitchens.

Here’s a panorama of the inside from the doorway. Its difficult to get a good perspective through the camera lens. Above are few views around the interior.

To learn more visit George’s blog and his Instructable page to see how he constructed his vardo.