Green Cedar Bus
by Josiah Williams
My wife, Christy, and I took a 1994 Blue Bird school bus and turned it into a home for us and our little boy.
We spent the summer of 2011 doing most of the conversion. I worked days as a carpenter and put in long nights and weekends on the bus and was rewarded with a comfortable, warm, and unique space for our family, free from rent and mortgage.
We spent the winter months traveling from Georgia to Washington state, spending most of the time around the south-west.
Along our journey we found out that we were pregnant with our second child so, though our time in our new home has been short, we are now in the prossess of selling the bus in order to fund a move to Alaska. We hope to get enough money from the sale to be able to start a life there and begin plans for another small, simple yet beautiful and unique home, this time though on a soil foundation!
More pictures and information at my website… http://deorwoodworking.
Contact Josiah via this email: Nemo8484 (at) gmail.com he did not give me a price…
20 Responses to “Green Cedar Bus”
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Alaska. Lived there over 20 years and worked for/retired from a major oil company. Get used to 84 hr. workweeks, 7 months of ice and snow, bring twice as many cold weather cloaths and three times as much money as you THINK you will need.
Advice? Have a GOOD OIL COMPANY JOB BEFORE YOU GO. 90% of the work in that state is oil related and remember UA’s are EVERY JOB requirement with Oil Companies. You get busted one time before you can ask for the program and you don’t work in that business again.
What are UA’s?
UA’s are when you summit a urine sample to be tested for drug use.
Asking price?
Yes, asking price? I’m in love!!!
How the heck are you going to fit that through the drive thru at McDonald’s? Jk, that’s awesome!
Alaska is probably not where you want to go.
You should head to Texas or the south.
Unless you are really skilled and willing to work for yourself.
Washington is a tough place to make it as you appear to have learned.
That said I would not live in any other state than the BIG WA.
RED
Gorgeous creation! Every bit as inspirational as the vardos and very much “in the tradition” of the best rolling homes. Gives me lots of ideas. Not everybody is plugged directly into the oil economy in Alaska, looks like you might be able to find yourself a niche with your building skills. There is a lot of good growing soil up there too and the summers may be short but the growing season is very intense.
I lived in Fairbanks and Anchorage, and agree that so many jobs are not related to the Oil, at least not directly. Just the people who live in cabins and remote lodges might support you with the skills you displayed in your wonderful bus.
Yes, the winters are cold, sometimes as much as -50, but it’s a dry cold, unlike down here. The dark days are a bit hard to get used to, but I loved them. Not a tropical girl by any means. There is so much land up there, that finding a small patch isn’t that hard, but you may want to contact the state first, googling land for sale.
I can tell you that one of the coolest things I found about living up there, is that you have to be cognizant of your life every single day. Down here, you push buttons and things happen. Up there, you forget something and it could cost you dearly. You really do have to live in the moment up there, which I loved.
If you haven’t already, and it sounds like you are both smart people who plan ahead, do some research. I personally would love to live in the Yukon Territory. Not America, not really BC, but very nice people.
Congrats on the new baby, and I personally would love to find out how you fared?? Keep us in the loop??
All the Best, Sandi
For those of you looking for an asking price, Josiah has this listed on tinyhouselistings.com . Also he’s got the technical specs listed for the bus and the conversion.
Sweet little bus!
I saw the green cedar bus in a public RV area near Tucson a while ago and thought how neat it looked. Two days later, I found myself driving behind it and managed to snap a photo as we were stopped at some lights. I posted the photo to both my own Facebook page and the Tiny House Blog Facebook page and in both places the response was tremendous. A huge number of my friends said they’d love to own it!
Imagine my surprise to see it appear just a few weeks later on the tiny house listings site! I mentioned this to my friends who had been so enthusiastic about it – I don’t know if any of them contacted the owner, but I’d love it if someone I knew ended up owning it.
It’s an amazing vehicle. Thanks for sharing, and I’m glad I got to see it in person.
I could handle living in that. I’m in WA. If I could just sell my darn house…
I just wonder where the bathroom is. Other than that, I love this bus and wish I could purchase it (another WA resident here)
*really* like the countertop mosiac
**A beautiful creation…does anyone know if it has already been sold???
Hi Everyone,
Thanks for all the positive feedback!
After being on the market for 2 weeks, we have sold the bus.
Though its a bit sad to part with something that we have so much love and energy into were really happy with the kind folks that will be calling it there new home.
Part of its new life will be spent traveling around to festivals and craft shows, where they will be sell there beautiful handmade jewelry, (check em out! http://www.thanksloveart.com).
In response to the bathroom question; it is a composting toilet that stows in the undercarriage while in transit and can be set up somewhere outside or brought in at night for those midnight emergencies. the shower is a simple yet efficient camp solar shower.
I built the bus with the eventual plan of parking it on a piece of land and building an out-house/shower separate so i really didn’t want to sacrifice the limited interior space.
Thanks again for all the positive feedback!
Um… Not everyone works for oil in Alaska, and it seems with your skills you would be very well suited for Talkeetna (north or Anchorage). Land is reasonable, and the community is very involved in making the area great residents and tourists. There are log home builders there who are very skilled in their craft.
Cool bus!
Asking price???
The commenter about living in Texas is a terrific idea. Here is why: LOW cost of living, plentiful jobs, no state income tax. I live in Dallas, a great place except for the 100+ degree heat in the summer which seems relentless. Usually by labor day or earlier, I escape to Washington for a few weeks. In east Texas, you can buy a lot to park your bus on with driveway, surrounded by the national forest and taxes under $10. yr a block away from a scenic lake at a purchase price of under $2,000. I know because I own a lot like this in east Texas. You will, however, miss mountains and rain. I have lived in Texas since 86 and plan to move to Washington or Oregon in a few months as I am retired now and make a great income working part time from my laptop.
Yet another WA. state resident with house for sale, sheesh. The obvious question: Do you call this beauty “The Magic Bus”?