The Rose Housetruck For Sale is a guest post/for sale listing by Michael Ostaski
This is a chance to own a classic piece of American history. I use to live in this house on wheels and traveled on the road for many years up and down the California/Oregon/Washington coast but now however I have retired it from the road and I have parked it on several different pieces of land. This truck makes a great “Tiny Home”. It has an incredible history and is a one of a kind.
So what you have here is a hand built totally custom home on wheels. It’s been called a “land yacht”. It’s very comfortable, has many features, and can be upgraded to have a little more modern comforts such as solar, wi-fi, etc.
Update: Price reduced!
Related: ’99 Sterling Roadrunner House Truck For Sale
1948 International Housetruck Tiny Home For Sale
Images © Michael Ostaski
Even though the truck runs and drives, I would recommend not really driving it on the road. It is just a little too slow up hills and has no power steering or AC.
With that being said this truck will have to be picked up on a low-boy tractor trailer; then it could be shipped pretty much anywhere in the United States. Then driven off the low-boy, on to the new property location and could be situated with its own power.
The master bedroom is above the cab, the dining area with the living room and kitchen are in one main area, then you drop down to a lower section which has a really nice bathroom with a sunken shower and sink. Another small space in the lower section is now a pantry. Above that is another small bedroom for a child or even storage that also has a little back porch with a dutch door made of Brazilian Mahogany (both doors are made from the same wood).
- The overall measurements are: 32′ long 9′ wide and 12.6′ tall
- Weighs roughly 6-7 tons
- Master bedroom is above the cab and measures 5.6′ by 8′
- The main cab area (living, dining and kitchen) measures 23′ by 8′
- The back bedroom is 4′ by 8′
- The porch is 2′ x 8′
- The bathroom is 7′ x 2′
- There are 23 skylights which makes it very bright and open (and not one leak)
This is a custom-built home with lots of hardwoods and stained glass windows, exposed beam ceilings, pellet stove, and a 20 gallon electric hot water heater. It’s recently been re-wired with modern lighting, propane stove, etc. And a new 35 year comp shingle roof and fresh exterior paint.
When you park this on a piece of land you would:
- Connect the electrical plug to the power panel
- Connect the hose to the water pressure valve
- Connect the septic to a septic tank
And then you’re ready to go.
The truck has been rebuilt and only has about 25,000 miles on a completely rebuilt motor. It also has new air brakes. The rear tires are in fair shape and the front tires are in very good shape (not retreads). The cab’s interior looks pretty good.
It has 15 forward gears and a 5 speed with a 3 speed browning. But again, I wouldn’t recommend driving it too far.
I have a picture of what it looked like on the low boy from California a few years back.
History
Some people might not care about this history but here it is in case you like that sort of stuff.
The house truck is officially called “THE ROSE” named after the back window. That first piece of stained glass was given to me as a gift. The Rose has been in two books. The first one was Rolling Homes in 1979 by Jane Lidz. And the second one was Some Turtles Have Nice Shells in 2010 by Rodger Beck. This house truck has also been on several TV shows and recently going to be on “You Live in What?” on HGTV.
Images © Michael Ostaski
I did stained glass trinkets and small windows at craft shows and fairs up and down the West Coast. Later I learned to be an airbrush artist and did t-shirts (much more fun!).
I started this home in 1976 and have remodeled the house at least 5 times so I keep it in really perfect shape. I recently added the bay windows on the sides to give it even more of a roomy feeling.
And for a 38 year old house truck it is just AWESOME.
Interested in Owning It?
I’m selling The Rose due to starting a new business building Tiny Homes called Roadrunner (tiny homes on wheels). With my art background I think I can offer some unique and creative homes on trailers or trucks ready to be moved to great pieces of land, helping people downsize, and live a stress-free kind of lifestyle.
Even though this is a classic piece of history, I’m willing to let it go at a fair price. I believe after looking at some of the prices from other tiny home companies that this would be a pretty good bargain at $60,000 $47,500 plus transport fees.
It does have to be trailered on a low-boy to its new location. A few years ago I had it trailered from California to New Mexico and it ran right around $3500. Moving costs would also have to be considered in part of the price. I will love to work with someone who would enjoy this classic home.
If you’re seriously interested in purchasing you can reach Michael at (5zero5) 4five9-two2seven2 or email him at michaelostaski [at] earthlink [dot] net.
Learn more:
- Incredible Housetruck by Michael Ostaski (video tour)
- Google: Michael Ostaski
- Michael’s Art Website: ArtExplosuion.us
Related Stories
- Two Housetruck Tiny Homes that Will Amaze You (by Michael Ostaski)
- Michael Ostaski’s Tiny House Comeback
- ’99 Sterling Roadrunner House Truck For Sale
Our big thanks to Michael Ostaski for sharing and offering his original housetruck!
If you enjoyed this 272 sq. ft. housetruck for sale by Michael Ostaski you’ll absolutely LOVE our free daily tiny house newsletter with even more! Thank you!
Alex
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So could a person unhook the truck from the house and park the house like a mobile home?
The truck is all part of the house, however it could be unbolted and lifted off. But why? And for the lady who thinks it’s 60 years old the house is not!! The truck is LOL
Why would it have to be hauled to location. Is it capable of travelling long distance on its own??
It can travel on its own but the owner said he would not recommended it. It has no power steering, it’s slow, and very heavy.
You partially answered a question that has been nagging me. Would it be wiser to build these with an eye toward light-weight materials and methods? I lived with a competitive cyclist whose prize racer weighted under 4 pounds. He would swap out components to save grams in weight.
Is there not a good reason to consider lighter materials than hardwoods, stained glass and mosaic tiles?
PS at 47K I think is a pretty good price after all you don’t have to buy a truck to haul it.
Oh my goodness! I saw this beautiful home on TV and the owner gave a wonderful tour. I also loved the history on this unit and some of the good times the owner had in it. The little loft room in the back was used by his children and they loved it. I love the bathroom tiles and that was a room the owner took great pride in showing. Truly, a beautifully done home. These pictures do NOT do it justice and I can only imagine how gorgeous it would look in person. You just don’t get to many truck units with such good handcrafted amenities. I loved seeing this on television and now here. Wish I could buy it.
I think that is really nice.
My eyes! I’ve strained my eyes trying to take this all in. Again, exquisite is an understatement. And, it’s a Woody! The interior of the cab (as well) is to die for. I’ve always been crazy about “old” and classic trucks and cars. I’ll be putting my house up for sale very soon and am seriously considering one of your beautiful creations.
I’m not sure exactly where I want to relocate and this would allow me the opportunity to take a 1st class tour through the U.S. while checking out places I’m considering for relocation. I’m not a big TV watcher so otherwise would not have seen this. Thanks again for sharing, and for posting.
Clutter? There is one plant in a window, a coffee maker tucked into a corner. I have three small plants on my kitchen window sill and an electric tea kettle tucked under the cabinets. The kettle is used every day throughout the day or it would be tucked away in a cabinet with the toaster. There is one tube of something and a scrubby in the shower. I put everything away after I have used it, but a couple of things left out is not much. No groups of tchotchkes, no piles of books.
I dislike clutter, too, and saw none here.
Love the idea.
A couple of questions…
Have you had issues parking this house?
What would the annual costs be to run this house?
Have you had to survive crazy nasty cold winters, and if yes, what did it cost to keep cozy warm?
Have you thought of replacing your heating system with an Espar heater? These gems are real money savers. The system gets piped into the gas tank and seriously does not take anything away from the fuel to warm up the place…I know because the truckers use them, so did I in my Sprinter cargo van.
Also had the walls spray foamed insulated which worked out really well to keep weight down, keep the heat in or the space cooler in the summer time.
I have lots of great ideas to save on space and weight issues.
All the best Michael on your business.
I would love to be a part of a business like this, as my feeling is, more people are going to use this as a means to an end life style.
Such a beautiful home, Michael! Someone will be so lucky.
Beautiful! I love the wood interior & bay window over the truck. Wish I had $50,000.00 burning a hole in my pocket so I could buy it and move it to my place. Better than what I’m living in now…
Why would you pay 3500. To haul it ? For that amount of money you could put a new engine in it and drive it anywhere.
Maybe there are other issues? No idea!
Hi! Is this still for sale 🙂 it’s beautiful!