Gypsy Vardo Art Rig

Our vardo has taken us two years to build so far, and we’re not done really. It continues to keep us busy working on it bit by bit.

We use it at art shows, music festivals and markets selling our artwork. We are chainsaw carvers, I’m a hand carver, and my husband paints. We sleep in the vardo when it is not full of our displays and artwork. It is also, of course, a very comfortable camper as well. We designed and built it. The cot sized bunk beds are quite comfortable and we can pull the top one out to make a double sized cot. There is storage in the top arch over the beds as well as over the porch, and under the side seats.

Ours is on a frame that lets the body be 8′ X 10′. 2 feet of that is porch, and well worth the space. I sit on it a lot at shows, and folks love to take pictures of their family being kidnapped by gypsies, or selling their kids to the gypsies. Just fun.

It has a metal frame and metal skin. We didn’t want it to ever need rebuilding. Also has birch plywood interior (screwing each piece to metal involved a great deal of pre-drilling and many broken screws). The finish will be shelac once I get all of the trim done.

The kitchen is on the hitch as we didn’t want to have to cook inside. It worked out even better than we thought.
Thanks, I love your site.

Built and photos by Christina White.

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