To my beautiful daughter.
Happy Birthday
Tag: nomad
A Classic Sheep Wagon in a Modern Setting
I love these old sheep camps. There are many on ranches from New Mexico to Idaho and beyond in old sheep and cattle country. They aren’t highway capable but it seems they could provide a real housing alternative for low-income minimalists. For many of us, living this way would be far better than a housing complex or apartment.
I took a fair amount of design inspiration from these wagons but added a bit of class along the way. I wouldn’t mind having a cook stove like this one though.
Off-the-shelf or build it yourself? I love these details in hand-built structures. This stove pipe cap has a classy look.
A short piece about Lorna’s wagon can be found here on the Tiny House Blog.
A Nice Squaretop Vardo
I found this beauty on http://theromanipeople.tumblr.com/. Sometimes there are some very nice images there but like much of Tumblr and Pinterest it seems to be stripped of all associated data. Anybody with any facts please feel free to pass them on to me.
I suspect this is early 20th century in Britain. I like the ubiquitous water can by the door and the nearly universal birdcage. Maybe I need an addition to my menagerie.
Terrapin, a New Caravan Design From Casual Turtle
There’s a new edition to the fleet of designs coming from Peter Pavlowich at Casual Turtle Campers. The unique, curved roof lines really make his work stand out in the crowd and I’m glad to see it again in his newest model. For me, this design melds the aesthetics of the early motor caravans with modern tastes.
It’s a simple cabin design with a convertible table top bed setup that looks like it will work great for one or two people and answers all the basic needs of shelter on the go.
I heard from Peter (the owner and builder of Casual Turtle) last week and I think he can describe it best:
“Hey George-I thought I’d pass along a few shots of a recent build. This one was for a gentleman here in Colorado – the model I call the Terrapin. We went with a pretty full interior arrangement on this one. He opted for no painted surfaces (which I usually do), so we incorporated several different species on the cabin’s interior – oak, birch, cedar, and beetle-killed ponderosa pine – so it wasn’t a one-tone wood overload. It weighed in at 1,300 lbs, max headroom around 5’9″, and it goes down the highway just great.”
It’s compact, lightweight, and is filled with windows to enjoy the great outdoors in any weather. It would be great to see this after the new owner settles in, decorates it to his personal taste, and gives it a “lived-in” look after a few thousand miles.
“Casual Turtle Campers was founded on the belief that wood is good, small can be comfortable, and that there is still room for simplicity in this increasingly complex world. “
I enjoy the simplicity of this design. It reminds me a bit of the “canned ham” campers of the 1950s and is not overly complicated by cabinetry and appliances. The wood exterior fits in with the natural world in a way that shiny, white aluminum could never do, making it seem more at home in the woods than in the RV park. This would make a perfect base camp for hunting, fishing, or just gazing at the mountains.
Here’s a little about Peter and his company from his web page:
“The idea for Casual Turtle Campers was conceived by Peter Pavlowich in the summer of 2010. On a road trip to Colorado, he noticed an abundance of truck campers but a profound lack of variety or style. As a Wood Construction and Design graduate from the University of Idaho, he believed he could design and build a simple and attractive alternative to the big, heavy, white boxes that he seemed to see everywhere. Over the next few years, Peter slowly and methodically brought together ideas and drew up plans for what would eventually become the designs for Casual Turtle Campers.
He very happily lives in Fort Collins, Colorado with his wife, Lindsey, and their dog/shop foreman, Moxie. We love when people stop by – just get in touch!”
Have a look at this and his other work by clicking the link below. Tell him I sent you! It’s not really worth anything but tell him anyway. GTC.
“I had to go alone…a kind of casual turtle carrying his house on his back.” -John Steinbeck, from Travels With Charley.
A Story of Growing Up in a Sheep Wagon
“Victor Croley grew up with a sheepherder father, his family of six lived happily in a wagon like this, entertained by the outdoors and a fiddle.”
Victor Croley describes growing up in a nomadic family of six with a sheepherder wagon for home and how years down the road he felt the urge to build a wagon of his own.Mother Earth News, May/June 1970
Here is great story I read years ago about being raised in a family of six in a sheep camp measuring about 7 x 8′! (I think that’s the floor space). I recently relocated the article in Mother Earth News.
Here’s an excerpt:
“The canvas-covered sheep wagon was roughly about seven feet wide by eight feet long. On the front end a door opened out of the middle and you stepped down onto the wagon tongue and thence to the ground. From the inside looking out, the stove was on the left of the door. On the right was a small wash stand with several wooden drawers for storage of linens, towels and socks. A bucket of water and washbasin were on the oil cloth covered top and a small mirror hung above the basin for shaving. Soap, toothbrush, razor and essentials rested on top of the stand when in location or were stowed in a drawer when moving.”
Download the print article here: CroleysSheepCamp.
New and Improved
That’s the idea at least. I have been diligently working to re-write the Vardo building pages in such a way as to make them a little more instructive. The benefit of hindsight has allowed me to address issues that seem to be common questions. I kept the comments in place (I hope) as they provide a lot of information and discussion from over the years. Over the next few days I intend to keep adding photos. Please feel free to comment, question, or point out any obvious typos or other errors.
Click the preview image to go the the first page of the re-write. More pages will be published as I get the images and text in place. Also I would deeply appreciate it if readers could share this in appropriate media with links back to the blog.
Cheers! ~GTC
Surrey Caravans for Sale
Road trip
Road food!
You can change your life.
Near Bend, Oregon.
Somewhere in Oregon.
Entertainment in camp.
Messy camp.
Mick’s wagon.
Quiet Contemplation
Home is Where the Hearth Is
…and the Vardo Will be Close by.
Some important facts about caravan living before the ultra-modern RVs came along that may help people understand some of the choices I have made about my own wagon:
- The caravan is the hub around which camp is built, but most “living” actually takes place outside in the wide world. Sometimes this means tents or other temporary structures provide added protection from the elements. Prior to the second world war, caravan Travellers in Europe often slept outdoors, under the caravan when necessary while the kids were corralled inside. This makes a lot a sense as adults stay up later, and kids can wander off.
- Cooking is done outdoors, over a fire. The stove, when there is one, is for heat and drying. The hearth is the focus of family life, just as it has been for a million years. That is where people congregate, music and stories happen there, and it is provides comfort and cheer.
- There is no water closet or toilet inside the caravan. That is considered by connoisseurs to be repugnant in such a small space. Needing to defecate in such a small space is a modern, and to some, a filthy idea. However, this is one of the most common criticisms I hear about mine or other traditional wagons; seemingly from folks with little travel or camping experience.
- A consistent anthropological observation about nomads is the strict rules of hygiene and cleanliness. Working and wandering outdoors can be a dirty business so strict rules are adhered to. Some of these reach the level of taboos and can be traced back over at least a thousand years. Living on the road can make one appreciate this need.
A happy family from the road. - The fancy wagons of 19th century Britain are the exception, not the rule. Functional but sometimes homely carts and wagons have likely served as the home base for nomads of various types since 500 B.C. or before. They came to their peak of perfection in Britain in the 19th century before morphing into the RVs we see today.
Then as today, a conscientious traveller uses a fire pan to prevent scorching the earth by the roadside. Mine is an old plow disk.
And finally, above are a few examples of outside extensions added to late 19th century caravans across Britain exhibiting the functionality of canvas to extend the living space in less-than-perfect weather.
Preindustrial Craftsmanship 