I've often thought about traveling the world on the open road.
This would require, evidently, the proper equipment to help me throughout the journey. The "equipment" in question is, of course, the vehicle that will carry and support me to the ends of the earth.
Tiny homes are ideal for this kind of purpose, as they often are self-powered and self-sufficient, and allow dwellers to truly connect with the nature that surrounds them.
For one married couple, building their own home was the only way that they could feel like they finally belonged somewhere. After five years of drifting around, they finally settled on building their own tiny home. And not just any tiny home — a marvelous tiny mansion on wheels.
They spoke to The Daily Mail about the journey they went through and the story behind their fantastical tiny home design, as well as their plans for the future. Read on to find out their journey, and let us know what you think in the comments below.
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h/t: Daily Mail
Husband and wife Brandon Batchelder and Chloe Barcelou have been all over New England, but never once had a home they could call their own. They've only ever stayed at apartments, friends' houses, and hotels.
They both wanted to create a more stable living environment and, most importantly, wanted to live in a home they could call their own.
Since both of them worked in creative fields on movie sets — she as a stylist and he as a set designer, specifically — it was only fitting that they design their home with some "cinematic" influences.
They both caught a financial break on an independent film they recently worked on. So, in order to better expand their job search opportunities across America, they came up with the idea of building a tiny home on wheels.
Brandon spent two months designing the home, and nine months to build it.
Here, he uses a triple board timber, and his father's block plane, which hadn't been used in around 40 years. He stained them after planing and sanding the boards, to make it look like "one clean piece of tree."
He found the trailer for the home on Craigslist for $1,000. It was apparently priced at a quarter of its original value, and was barely used.
Brandon made sure to elevate the ground floor of the mobile home in order to make a cavity to stow the pullout deck.
The key component of the home? It was designed to be collapsed and towed.
All the materials came from torn-down movie sets on which the couple has worked.
It was originally Chloe's idea to build a tiny mansion home on wheels.
Most of the building was done during the brutal winter season in Boston.
Aside from salvaged materials found on movie sets, items found in yard sales and the side of the road were used. The total cost of construction was $10,000.
The home has a retractable deck that can be pulled and folded out from under the front door.
Electricity will be provided through installed solar panels, and the house will also have abundant hot water, heat, and a composting toilet.
Gutters and rainwater collection barrels will also be installed to add to the water supply in the house.
At first, both husband and wife wanted the interior of the home to take on a Tudor-inspired style, but ultimately decided that it would have looked extremely odd.
They drew inspiration from mixed sources: stage coaches, railroad cars, old ships, and gypsy caravans. "Your imagination is the limit," Brandon told The Daily Mail. "You can design functions that only you need or understand."
The greatest inspiration came from the look of a steamer trunk. He said that he loved the elegant silhouette of the trunk, and that the end product gave him great satisfaction in knowing that he built something for himself, by himself.
Right now, the home is parked in their friends' backyard in the Hamptons, and will eventually be attached on to a five-ton military truck.
The couple plans to "go wherever work is." The tiny home is exactly what they need to pursue their dreams right now. They have even thought about shipping the home over to Europe, so that they can travel and find work there.
"A lot of people criticize tiny homes," said Brandon. "The truth is, they aren't for everybody. It depends on the life you want to live."
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