Gypsy Wagon Dreams

Winter is creeping in. Time to snuggle down, read books, daydream, and surf the net a lot more. My daydreams of home building are evolving. From tiny house on a trailer, to gypsy wagon on a trailer.

I somehow imagine a Gypsy Vardo (wagon) might be easier for me to build, than one of Jay Shaffer's little homes. Plus there's the cute factor! So, I did some drawings.

This first one supposes going to 13 feet in height, (about 4 meters). In New Zealand, maximum road height (without a permit) seems to be 4.25 meters. After looking at at loads of photos of wagons, I realized that they couldn't possibly be that tall, because none of them have room above the door for a window! So I drew one up 2 foot shorter.

Looks more like the proportions of the ones I've been looking at. But the lower roof height means no room under the bed platform for a "sitting room". Why don't people build them higher? Are they more difficult to tow? Is it because of the extra weight? Comparison:

Either height, the layout could be the same:

I assume it would be best to mount a pot belly stove over the axle, because of the weight. I have zero experience of towing trailers. I've never owned a car with a towbar. And I think I would need quite a powerful vehicle to tow one of these! (and to build it on a pretty heavy duty trailer, looking at upwards of $5000 NZD for a new one!) Looks like there is a place in the South Island that makes wood burning stoves for mobile homes, which is great. But expensive. Another $2000. Obviously I should be focusing on saving money to buy the land to park it on first! But i'm desperate for a project, some kind of hope to keep me going, something to chip away at. Something to come home from work to, and keep my mind occupied! For now, I will have to be satisfied with drawings.