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.
I had the opportunity of touring Jay’s Vardo before he sold it and it is a high quality little unit. It reminds me a bit of a teardrop trailer in a vardo format. 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. With that confidence you could move on to build a larger tiny house.
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.
Tumbleweed Tiny House Company is making a special offer this month and is giving away the plans for free if you purchase Jay’s Small House Book.
The plans include 14 pages:
- Elevation Drawings: The exterior view from all 4 sides is included showing you heights relative to the truck bed, window and door openings, and finish materials.
- Floor Plans: Floor plans are included for both the storage area, and the sleeping area.
- Roof Plan: Shown from above, you see the overhang of the roof compared to the truck and structure.
- Wall Framing: Two pages of wall framing show you how to frame each wall, front, back and sides so that you have the rounded roof and slight angle of side walls. Additionally, floor framing is included.
- Door Detail: The Vardo requires a custom made door, and the door detail gives you the dimensions, and types of wood to use.
- Section Drawings: These drawings cut the Vardo in half both the long way and the short way. They show you where to insulate, what types of wood studs to use, how to properly insulate, which materials to use, how to secure the structure to the truck, and much more.
- Basic Components: Suggestions on specific windows for the structure and the door including the manufacturer and glass type. Also included is a heater suggestion.
