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.

Hornby Island Caravans

by Kent Griswold

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.