Wooden caravans

The remaining two.

Roderick

170526F-MelbourneHeraldSun-caravan-b-1970s.jpg


170526F-MelbourneHeraldSun-caravan-e-2010s-Notel.jpg

Roderick.

The Block’s Michael and Carlene Duffy renovate a Viscount caravan with White Knight Paints.
Herald Sun February 2, 2018.
Michael and Carlene: Vonnie the Van reno by White Knight.
THERE’S nothing new about micro-housing these days.
But not often is it as stylish as this caravan makeover by former contestants on The Block, Michael and Carlene Duffy.
‘Vonnie’ is their second caravan renovation and the couple teamed up with White Knight Paints to refresh Vonnie’s exterior and dated brown laminate cabinetry with a range of specialty paints.
‘Vonnie’, the renovated caravan tackled by Michael and Carlene Duffy, with White Knight Paints. Picture: White Knight Paints.
The interior of the caravan.
They’ve also created how-to videos on the project for the White Knight YouTube channel.
Carlene says to kickstart your van renovation by considering the layout given you’ll be living, eating and sleeping all in the one space.
“The mini zones within one space have to speak to each other,” Carlene says.
The interior of the caravan before the renovation.
And a look at the kitchen after renovation. Picture: White Knight Paints.
The couple wanted to make the space feel more open so they removed a door that separated the bedroom and moved the bed.
When choosing your colour palette, Carlene suggests a light and bright holiday aesthetic.
“A lot of old caravans have very dark interiors, which isn’t conducive to a holiday vibe,” she said.
Spearmint green and white formed the primary colour scheme for Vonnie, with tonal variations including forest-green velvet-upholstered seating.
“When I saw this green in a photograph of an old EH Holden, I knew we’d hit the jackpot,” she said.
The seats and a table before renovation.
Revamped and refreshed. Picture: White Knight Paints.
Scaled-down living doesn’t mean skimping on quality or style. Picture: White Knight Paints.
The original dining-table frame and dish-drying rail were painted satin gold and they complement brass detailing, such as the table’s edging.
Material matters
Carlene says with a caravan, be conscious of the vehicle’s weight and the materials.
“Use lightweight materials that won’t crack with the van’s constant movement,” she said.
Materials include vinyl-plank flooring and the splashback’s stick-on subway tiles.
The caravan reno has lots of ideas that would work equally well in a small home.
Here’s how you canembrace scaled-down living:
•Freshen up tired and dated laminate with a fresh coat of specialty paint. It’s an easy and inexpensive way to give it a bright lift.
•Work within a tonal colour palette to keep the look calm and less cluttered.
•Combine different surface materials to create interest and texture.
•Add timber elements, even timber-look features, for warmth.
•Source appliances that match the scale of your space.
•Boost natural light with a skylight. Sheer curtains will also bring soft light into a space.
•Opt for subtle patterns in soft furnishings so you don’t overpower the room.
whiteknightpaints.com.au
MICHAEL AND CARLENE WOULD GO ON THE BLOCK AGAIN.
THE BLOCK GATWICK FILMING DATES CONFIRMED.
< www.heraldsun.com.au/news/the-blocks-mic...aaf259b67b6ff09ca5a5 >

The final three photos. Roderick.

amazing how well the paint rejuvenated the cushions and bedding! :woohoo:

From the print version, with a further set of photos.
180203Sa Melbourne Herald Sun - caravan - renovation.

Roderick

Not wooden, but claimed to have 'retro' styling.

Roderick.

Camping never looked so good with this trendy trailer. 06 Nov 2017
Good things come in small packages, or so the saying goes, and that is certainly the case with the HC1 Travel Trailer by Happier Camper.
LA-based company Happier Camper is a start-up venture that rents and sells new and restored vintage trailers with a camper-friendly design.
Happier Camper HC1 green travel trailer.
Happier Camper rents and sells new and restored vintage trailers with a camper-friendly design. Picture: Happier Camper.
Each trailer can be configured to sleep up to five people and its interior can be fully customised.
Perhaps one of its most attractive features, however, is the ultra-light structure, which enables the trailer to be towed by most 4×4 vehicles.
The trailer’s insulated fibreglass shell comes in a range of colours – with names that pay tribute to its Californian heritage – such as ‘pacific blue’, ‘silver lake’, ‘mammoth white’ and ‘sequoia orange’.
Happier Camper HC1 travel trailer.
The HC1 Travel Trailer is available in lots of pretty colours, like pacific blue, silver lake, mammoth white and sequoia orange. Picture: Happier Camper.
The oh-so-cute, solar-powered camper trailer can be towed almost anywhere as it weighs just under 500kg.
It can also be shipped from the US and the base price starts from US$18,950.
Happier Camper HC1 yellow travel trailer.
The base price starts from US$18,950. Picture: Happier Camper.
For the premium model, prices start from US$26,740 with inclusions such as a deluxe kitchenette, dry-flush toilet, solar-heated road shower, outdoor porch light and more.
Other features include vintage-inspired teardrop rear side markers, dimmable LED lighting, a ceiling fan and adjustable blinds. The interior accessories are nothing short of awesome.
Happier Camper trailer.
So, the question is: Where will you choose to adventure to with your new portable tiny home? Picture: Happier Camper.
There’s also loads of storage space for all your camping gear and sports equipment, ’cause who wants to go on a camping trip without their beloved kit?
With its retro-cool design, the HC1 will be the envy of all your fellow campers – especially come time to do the midnight run to the loo.
< www.realestate.com.au/lifestyle/camping-...-this-trendy-trailer > with a video

Roderick.

Port star turns wine into food 7 June 2018.
It started, as a lot of good ideas do, over a bottle of wine. Actually it started over 600 bottles.
The wine led Justin Westhoff and his mate to a food truck. The food truck led to building children's gardens, the gardens led to feeding the homeless, feeding the homeless led to working out how to house them, too. He has a big heart, Justin Westhoff, and even bigger plans.
Justin Westhoff shows off fresh produce in the Barossa Valley. Photo: James Elsby
Westhoff, the Port Adelaide forward with the quiet demeanor and the hipster beard, has a world view that owes more to hippie than hipster.
Westhoff grew up in the Barossa Valley. On his grandmother’s grain and sheep farm, helearned the lessons of eating what you grow, and knowing the value of good food. He is now living that philosophy.
This story started a few years ago when his mate Scott Rogasch's parents offered the paira chance to make their own wine. Scott’s parents own a 20-acre vineyard in the Barossa and sell the fruit to local wineries. But everyone in the
Barossa wants to make their own wine, so Scott's parents carved off four rows of vines for the boys.
They hand-picked about two tonnes of grapes themselves. Another friend, Tim Dolan, is a winemaker. He made the wine for them, 600 bottles of shiraz.
Port plays Richmond on Friday night and by coincidence, Westhoff could find himself opposed by defender Dylan Grimes. Grimes owns a small Mount Macedon winery and produces a fine pinot.
In the Barossa, where there is a glut of options, Westhoff and his mate knew they needed a selling point.
"We decided to make it a vegan wine. I’m not vegan but coming from the Barossa, everything is fine food, fine wine,” Westhoff said.
Westhoff's wine, labeled Forage Supply Co, does not have an added clarifying agent. The vegan thing was their difference, but bottling wine and selling it are two different things.
“We tried to think, 'What is the best way to get our name out there?' We thought, what comes with wine is food, so we probably stupidly decided to buy a little caravan and do a little food truck around the Barossa Valley,” he said.
They found and bought a caravan for sale on the side of the road, figuring it would be simple enough to cut a serving hole in the side, paint it and set to work. A builder mate took a look at the van and just shook his head. It was no small job.
Westhoff with mate and business partner Scott Rogasch. Photo: James Elsby
“We had vegan wine, so we wanted to do entirely plant-based food," Westhoff said. "There’s a bit of a pigeon hole for yourself as vegan and the stereotypes around that, even though I wasn’t vegan by any stretch, but we wanted to
challenge those stereotypes.
"Our take is about having the smallest impact on the environment, but the biggest impact on the community.”
Another friend who is a chef in the Barossa designed the menu: nachos with cashew nuts, cheese, burgers made of jack fruit.
“I don’t want my kids growing up thinking all my fruit and veg comes from the supermarket.” Justin Westhoff
“We thought of how we could make this cool and not just hippies eating salads and the whole stereotype," he said. Now they sell at markets, festivals and parties.
Westhoff is not a small man and the roof of his food van is not very high, but he squeezes in and helps cook and sell. He is a big man in a small town in Adelaide, but he has a quiet disposition so while he might be recognisable, he
does not trade on it. He tends to blend in.
The food van gave rise to a question about how to source food more sustainably. The vineyard abuts a primary school, and an idea came to them.
They crowdfunded $18,000 and built their first school vegie garden. Now the school kids grow food for their own canteen, and the food van buys produce there. Westhoff and his friends return to the school to work with the kids in the
garden and take a celebrity chef with them to show the kids – and parents – how to make healthy food.
Westhoff in action for Port Adelaide. Photo: Morgan Hancock
That one school garden has now become three. Port Adelaide footy club has funded another garden and buys produce from their players' kitchen. The schoolkids are chuffed to grow food in the Port garden for the players.
The school garden generates more food than the van can use, so Westhoff parlayed that into another interest. As an ambassador for a homeless shelter in Adelaide, he takes excess produce there to cook for the homeless.
“The stereotype of someone homeless is an alcoholic, but through our caravan we have had an opportunity to hire 20 of their clients who come through the pathway and it opens your eyes up to these guys," he said.
"There’s managers of companies, high-up successful business people, teachers, all sorts who find themselves in a situation. Whether it’s because of a marriage break-up or a mental disorder, they find themselves not having a place to
stay and then it can spiral.”
The experience at the shelter led him to wonder how he might not only feed but house the homeless.
“We are starting up this sister company doing temporary housing for the homeless, so we are working through things with that now. It’s kind of modular, temporary relief housing,” he said.
Westhoff’s mum is a banker, his dad was a fitter and turner who owns a maintenance company. His family are not daisy chain-making hippies, but his country upbringing teased out an environmental and social conscience.
“I am in a position where I have time to give back to the community and show awareness to different aspect to social ... not injustice, but people less privy to opportunities I have had,” he said.
“My grandmother lived on the farm, she grew all the fruit and veg on the farm, and then from that I have grown up through that, the best way to be healthy and exercise is to educate yourself on what is healthy.
“I don’t want my kids growing up thinking all my fruit and veg comes from the supermarket. I want to have them outside and growing their own thing.”
< www.theage.com.au/sport/afl/port-turns-w...20180607-p4zk4e.html >

There seems to be little difference between tiny houses and caravans. Most are built on wheels, I suspect to bypass planning permits.
Roderick.
How a crazy idea led Fred Schultz to build and live in a tiny house 28 June 2018.
Talking points:
- Growing movement of tiny houses.
- Fred’s Tiny Houses running workshops in Canberra on the weekend.
Fred Schultz was 50 when he came up with a "crazy idea" of building and living in his own tiny house.
Mr Schultz, now 58, said at the time he was working as a counsellor and realised he wanted a lifestyle change that would "radically reduce my cost and what I get is my time back".
Fred Schultz, wife Shannon and daughter Olina with the tiny home Mr Schultz built. Photo: Supplied.
"Tiny houses are fantastic options for many people - they can offer a way for young people to get debt free fast, or provide affordable and independent options for older people to be close to family," Mr Schultz said.
"I certainly learned a lot about myself, about relationships, about design, and the details of building and living in a tiny house when I decided to do this."
After slowly learning how to build a tiny house, Mr Schultz, with the help of his wife Shannon, started building their home in 2013, and by 2015 had moved in.
"When Shannon and I met it became not just some crazy idea that a single man dreamed of doing, but she got on board and we built it.
"When we had our daughter, she learned to walk while we were in the tiny house and it was fun living all together as a family, but don't get me wrong, it had its challenges too."
After slowly learning how to build a tiny house, Mr Schultz, with the help of his wife Shannon, started building their home in 2013 and by 2015 had moved in. Photo: Supplied
Mr Schultz said a tiny house on wheels with a bed, kitchen, and bathroom could cost "as little as $30,000".
This weekend, Mr Schultz will run a series of workshops at Ainslie Football Club to show people how to build a tiny house.
"The workshop aims to equip people with all the knowledge they need to take on a do-it-yourself build, saving participants years of research," he said.
"We want to show people that they can have their own tiny house and not have to be paying so much in mortgage or rent so it can change a person's monthly budget in a way that’s dramatic."
Planning minister Mick Gentleman will be at the workshop to talk about the planning issues around tiny houses.
"The ACT government is currently undertaking the housing choices project that is looking at the range of housing options available in residential areas and whether they meet the needs of the community," Mr Gentleman said.
"Housing types such as tiny houses have been put forward by the community as possible options that could be considered as part of this project."
In terms of planning requirements, Mr Gentleman said if a tiny house was added to a block with an existing house it could be considered a secondary residence.
"These are permitted if they comply with the requirements of the territory plan and in particular, the residential zones development code and the single dwelling housing development code," he said.
"There are no particular building requirements for tiny homes, as building and other related laws are not concerned with the size of a building, only its purpose and use."
Mr Gentleman said if a tiny house was classified as a caravan-style dwelling, parked on a residential site, and used regularly then it needed to meet requirements of the Building Act 2004.
Mr Schultz and his family have since moved out of their tiny house into a property that was large enough to house their tiny house, which they now rent out on AirBnB.
A housing strategy by the government will be published later this year.
For details about the event visit: fredstinyhouses.com.au
< www.canberratimes.com.au/national/act/ho...20180627-p4zo0h.html >
Two photos from the article, plus one from 80630Sa Melbourne Herald Sun.

181007Su Melbourne Herald Sun - caravan [advertising a caravan & camping show at Sandown Park Racecourse].

I don't know if this is real 1960s, or retro styling. It is a USA import: the towbar is to the right, and so we see a right-hand door. It may even be a USA photo too. Very few Australian beaches would allow camping like that.

Roderick.

heres another one for the AGE........Living in tiny house attracts record penalty from greedy shire/town council.....