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Prefab Caravan Tiny House on Wheels: Livable or Not?


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Here’s a really nice caravan tiny house by So Cal Cottages. (Update: It looks like they’re no longer producing tiny homes)

It has french doors in the front with a covered porch area over the hitch of the trailer.

Inside there’s a downstairs sleeping area (no upstairs sleeping loft) so it’s a single level tiny house.

This is great for those of you who do not like the idea of using a ladder to get to and from your bed.

You’ll also find a dining table, storage nooks, full bathroom and kitchen inside.

Prefab Caravan Tiny House on Wheels

caravan-tiny-house-so-cal-cottages-002

Enjoy touring the rest of this tiny home and let us know if you’d enjoy living in it or why not in the comments below:

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Alex

Alex is a contributor and editor for TinyHouseTalk.com and the always free Tiny House Newsletter. He has a passion for exploring and sharing tiny homes (from yurts and RVs to tiny cabins and cottages) and inspiring simple living stories. We invite you to send in your story and tiny home photos too so we can re-share and inspire others towards a simple life too. Thank you!
{ 24 comments… add one }
  • Daniel
    March 10, 2014, 5:02 pm

    Wow love the look of this and wondering why more of these are not sold in Australia?

  • Susannah
    March 10, 2014, 5:17 pm

    That bed would be the devil to make; have to crawl into a tunnel, and the edges would be knuckle-shaving. At least, on a loft there’s a bit of space around it.
    And there’s virtually no storage space, apart from a few shelves. The space under seating, side table, the bed, is all wasted.
    Where would you put a microwave or two-burner hot plate?
    I do sort of like the shower. And the french doors are a nice touch, but as a whole, it needs some work.

  • susan
    March 10, 2014, 5:19 pm

    Like the bed on the same floor ( :

    Would need a frig & toaster oven at least for me to live in it but looks like there’s room.

    How much does it cost?

  • CathyAnn
    March 10, 2014, 7:01 pm

    I agree with the others. To live in this, some storage is needed, and I couldn’t live without some way to cook. Living in Montana, I can’t cook outside most of the year. The countertop would have to be extended with a place for a small refrigerator under it and room for a stovetop on top. A sturdy cupboard could be installed to the right of where that shelf is located to the right of the sink with space for a small microwave and/or toaster oven

    I like the fact that the bed is on the main floor (although difficult to make), and the bathroom is excellent.

    I wonder what’s behind the shelves at the foot of the bed. It would be great if they rolled out to give access to all that space under the bed for storage. Also, there’s room for a built in couch which would have a lot more storage underneath.

    Lot’s of possibilities with this one. I could make it livable and be happy there.

  • ichael
    March 10, 2014, 7:14 pm

    This one looks really good and not like a shrinking version of a real house.
    However, I agree about storage. What about using a murphy bed and put the kitchen aside the spacious bathroom?
    I am wondering how heavy they are. For regular towing 20′ would be very convenient although the builder is offering 24′ and 30′ too. But I guee its a matter of weight.

  • Hunter
    March 10, 2014, 7:26 pm

    I for one like this Vardo very much. anybody with half a brain could add more storage shelves. the trouble with people now a days is they want everything ready to move into. handed to them. laziness abounds. get your brain involved people and DIY those special touches you want. Geeze! And could you all stop knocking these tiny houses? if you can’t do better yourself, than let the rest of us enjoy it with out all the cheap shots you take.

    • Erica
      March 11, 2014, 8:07 pm

      Stop reading the comments, lol.

  • Jennifer
    March 10, 2014, 7:54 pm

    The shelves under the bed do pull out giving access to the rest of that space for storage. Granted, crawling under the bed to access that storage might be a bit claustrophobic, but still. I like the fact that this is a vardo with a bathroom. You don’t see very many of those. For that fact alone, I could easily live in this.

  • Tenderloin
    March 10, 2014, 8:45 pm

    I like the exterior shape, though I’m not crazy about the colors. Seems to me designers and builders of tiny homes would do well to borrow a page or two from RV manufacturers. Those folks have been building tiny homes for almost a century and they know how to squeeze everything you need into a very small package, including storage. You almost never see wasted space in an RV. You really can’t live tiny if you want to enjoy a house-sized refrigerator, sink, stove, shower, and toilet. They just take up too much space.

    But looking at this caravan, if you were to double the square footage (sideways), you could correct all its deficiencies and you’d have a beautiful, much more livable, and still very small house.

  • 2BarA
    March 10, 2014, 9:30 pm

    This is attractive, bright, with nice finishing. I would make the bed a little higher and put it on casters so it could be rolled out for making and changing the sheets. I would put a rod under it for hanging shirts and pants.

    • Maria
      March 17, 2014, 4:16 pm

      I agree 2BarA it would be great if the bed rolled out.

  • Cosy
    March 10, 2014, 9:47 pm

    For such a small s

  • Cosy
    March 10, 2014, 9:52 pm

    Sorry accidentally hit the go button… I like the layout & I agree with others that this is a very basic design that could be tweeted to the owner’s specifications. I like the bed on the floor too. It could be really quite cute & very livable after adding the personal touch. Thanks Alex.

  • Gary
    March 11, 2014, 9:41 am

    I like the porch over the trailer hitch, but wonder where it is stowed when traveling/transporting?

    @Hunter: Comments pro and con were requested, so no one is knocking tiny houses…just suggesting improvements and alternative interior components.

  • Joyce
    March 11, 2014, 12:48 pm

    I love this house…I would put the bed on casters and put storage all around the bottom just to make it easier to make and allow more storage.. I really love the full size bathroom. Would probably put a recliner in the living room and a table/desk type fold against the wall .

  • alice h
    March 11, 2014, 1:56 pm

    Much nicer and way more spacious than my 13′ Boler so I could live in it fairly happily. A different layout would suit my needs better though. Instead of a little sleeping closet I’d have a daybed out in the main area so you have a comfy spot to sit during the day as well as a sleeping spot. The bathroom is bigger and fancier than what I need but I see the appeal for many people. I’d have a smaller bathroom and larger kitchen area but the main space would be a living/sleeping setup. Love the French doors, but a side entry allows more flexibility in floor plans.

  • MaryAnna
    March 11, 2014, 5:20 pm

    I like the nook much better than the loft idea… my arthritic knees would not tolerate up and down to loft.

  • Betty Resch
    March 11, 2014, 8:04 pm

    I love the idea of a nook bed. Would use the loft for storage or guests, etc. Love this one.

  • Ginger
    March 11, 2014, 11:04 pm

    I agree with previous reviews: I would like a closet, like downstairs bed but not in that tight nook (Murphy would be better), no fridge, more shelves or cupboards in kitchen. Perhaps put kitchen where bed is, and put Murphy bed somewhere on the current kitchen wall? Like the bath, the open feel, the French doors. Do not like exterior paint colors. And is there a heater?

  • Jenifer
    March 13, 2014, 12:14 am

    I would shrink the bath (down to a wet room WC), extend the kitchen, and figure out how to do really great drawer storage out from under the bed.

    And obviously make it higher grade all around in terms of materials, color choices, etc. 🙂

  • Phil
    July 18, 2014, 5:34 pm

    Can I assume that these are 2 different styles of Vardo: one without the porch with french doors, then the one with a porch with a single door? I love the exterior colors. LOVE THEM! The interior wood seems nice/not too cheap, but the bathroom just looks like builder grade fixtures and particle board. If you’re going to live in this house, not just use it occasionally, I would think higher quality fixtures would be in order. I would shrink the bath a bit, making it a wet room, and install a composting toilet, and remove the sink. The kitchen sink is a few feet away, and it seems like a a second sink is a redundancy that I just don’t understand in most tiny house designs. Again, if this is for full time living, more storage needs to be considered. One possibility would be to use a single door instead of the french doors, and install two shallow floor to ceiling closets on both sides or the door. This would provide a “foyer” and add tons of storage without taking up too much space. With the reduced bathroom size, the kitchen counter could also be extended to accommodate a small fridge, 2 burner cook top, and a convection micro/oven, and seating. The table is a huge waste of space. Also, put the bed on casters for easier access to storage underneath, and change those shelves to drawers for a built in dresser. Install some wall cabinets at the head of bed for additional storage. get rid of that big swinging door on the bathroom and put in a pocket door, or 2 small doors that don’t eat up floor space. All in all this is a great start, but using an RV as inspiration on how to provide multiple storage options and utilize all of the wasted space is a must for this is to be considered a full time home.

  • Cammi
    April 30, 2015, 9:07 am

    Overall, it’s nice. I would replace the bathroom sink with a wall mounted sink. Lose the cabinet. It makes the room look smaller, and you could easily wall-mount some storage. Or remove the sink completely, since the kitchen sink is nearby.

    I would definitely need more in the kitchen. A fridge of some sort and a way to cook are definite musts. The window placement on that side could be changed to make adding additional items in the kitchen easier without trying to work around windows (Granted, this one is already done, but for future ones, it’s a thought).

  • Kathy
    June 8, 2015, 6:15 pm

    I was immediately attracted to the vardo styling of this little house. Not having to climb stairs is a plus in my book. Then I noted the limited storage, and thought that if the bed were a hydraulically assisted pull-down, you could have quite a bit of storage under the bed. Then I noted that there was no fridge or range, microwave or any real kitchen storage. Full time living sorta requires these things. Possibly what this cutie needs is about 3 or 4 feet more in length! A quick reply to Phil’s concern about having both a bath and kitchen sink: You can make the bathroom sink as small as you want, but washing one’s hands away from food the prep area prevents possible E. coli contamination and is critical to your health.

  • Maryellen Joann Joubert
    September 30, 2015, 3:46 pm

    Where is the heat or heater. Is there a hot water tank?

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