Gypsy Wagon

Wild West Wagon: Before and After

Ever since I was a child, I have been in love with Romani vardo or “gypsy wagons.” We have some space on our property that needed a little structure that was useable but not permanent and after searching through Craigslist and Tiny House Listings for years, I found a handmade … Read more

Woolywagons

by Kent Griswold

by Steve Auth We build Sheep wagons, Gypsy Wagons, any type of Tiny House. What is really unique about our builds is they all have a Skeleton of a welded aluminum frame work with a sprayed polyurethane foam insulation with a metal roof of various colors for a four season … Read more

My Gypsy Wagon “Cikan Vuz”

by Kent Griswold

by Cikan Vuz When I bought my 1970 Volkswagen Kombi back in March of this year, I knew I was going to make her into a camper, but I had no idea how she would turn out. I tired a few things, but they inspired me to try other things … 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

Towable Gypsy Wagon

by Kent Griswold

Darrel Schultz is building a light towable gypsy wagon. The floor is 12 feet long and 54 inches wide. The roof overhangs each end by about 16 inches.

It’s totally scratch-built from the fram up, as the pictures show. I used a Dexter torsion-bar axle with electric brakes. Darrel likes keeping things simple, so there will be no electrical system other than the trailer lighting. The lights on the inside are gas, exactly as were used on early airstream trailers.

Darrel will be using a wood-burning stove (a ” Lil Sweetie” boxwood stove from Vogelzang.) for heat. Darrel is building it to camp in, because his Teardrop that he built doesn’t hold three people. He won’t have the interior finished, but he hopes to have the exterior complete enough by late summer for a trip to Yellowstone.

George’s Mini Vardo Update

by Kent Griswold

Back in January George one of my readers shared his vardo project that he was in the process of building. Recently George sent me an update on his completed vardo and shared that he had been using it regularly. Following is an update from George.

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.