Contemporary Prairie Schooner aka Gypsy Wagon Visits Dacha + Makes Us Happy

Friends Libby & Tristan built a gypsy wagon, or as they’re calling it a Contemporary Prairie Schooner, on a trailer bed and towed it from New Mexico- The Land of Enchantment– to the Northeast- The Land of Abstraction behind their Hyundai. It’s now their very own little house!

They sojourned at the Dacha for the better part of the week, and we had much to talk about and do together.  Tristan and Danila built a concrete form for the earth berm on the east side of the house. Libby designed a tool rack and helped me move the entire kitchen. Joe took much time to dork out with them both, and the couple even had time to finish up some details of their own tiny house.  All together we cooked chanterelles, swam under waterfalls, and talked about media democracy, the past (living in West Phila),  and of course building & growing stuff.

Many things about their wandering ways impressed me. I was particularly struck with how self-sufficient and low-key they were considering that they were essentially living off 54 sq feet of trailer bed!  They cooked their contributions to the meals, and washed their dishes right alongside their tiny house, even though they could have come inside.

Libby and Tristan, having rid themselves of many material possessions  had enough room for important things in their wagon, like their Philly street cat Lion’s Head, home-brewed beer, homemade goat cheese, a guitar, and their laptops (charged by a 50 watt solar panel).

We were sad to see them go to Northhampton, Mass where Libby gots a job, and Joe even considered cutting their spark plugs.  I had to hide all 100 cutting devices that we have strewn about to abort his plan. Things got tense for a while.

Ultimately, we realized that the gypsy wagon’s trip still had some turns of the wheels to make and that it was important for us to share their inspiration with others.  I think we all learned a lesson or two about things on wheels, co-habitation, fish by waterfalls, generators and so on.

You can check the wagon’s progress out on Libby’s awesome blog on simplyfing the stuff of life- Whittled Down, and on Tiny House blog.  Or check out more photos + informative captions on my flickr set.

xoxo-Lea LSF