10 Vintage Buses Transformed Into Stunning Mobile Homes

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Written by: Nina

Last Updated: 05 Sep 2016

Converted vans are cool, but there’s something really cool about those pioneers who go one step further – and transform buses into mobile homes. Forget sleeping in a cramped VW Transporter surrounded by sweaty socks and old beer bottles. These buses have double bedrooms, sofas, fully-working kitchens and – yes – proper toilets. Inspired by this video tour of a seriously cool converted school bus, we’ve put together 10 of the raddest vintage buses-turned-mobile homes. Time to get creative…

1978 International Bus

This bus went up for sale online – and within a matter of days went viral across the internet. You only need to look inside to see why. It’s been custom renovated with a wooden interior, full kitchen, living room and bedroom. There’s a wood stove to keep you warm in the winter and a roof deck for sunset BBQs in the summer. The only thing it doesn’t have it a toilet, but who needs them anyway? It’s travelled from the Colorado Rockies to New Mexico, California, Oregon, Washington – and now belongs to a couple in the North Cascades. Lucky them

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Rosie, The 1978 Bluebird Bus

Most people’s first homes are tiny one-bed apartments . Not Mike and Natalie Young They bought this 1978 Bluebird bus for $3,000 off Craigslist and named it Rosie. All the seats were already removed by the previous owner, they just had to fit it out in their own style.

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Now it has a kitchen with a stove, a bedroom and a living room – all open plan and spacious. Any downsides? Well, in the summer, metal boxes get hot. Very hot. “Between the hours of 11 am and 6 pm, we weren’t able to live in here comfortably even with the AC,” Natalie told the Statesman. You can read the full story here.

The Yellow School Bus

If you love the outdoors, the last place you want to be is stuck somewhere urban and expensive. This is exactly why Julien and Pico bought this old school bus a few years ago and made it into their own home in the middle of British Columbia. They were sick of paying huge rent to live in the city, so they bought the bus and renovated it. It’s parked on a bio-dynamic farm in a forest in alongside a river. You can drive to Vancouver in just an hour and Whistler in half an hour. It’s got all the mod cons – gas stove, fridge, washing machine, shower, toilet, hot water and heating…. After just a year, they’d paid it off and the land they rent is a quarter of what they paid for rent in the city. Now they have more time to spend riding mountain bikes and doing yoga. Sounds pretty sweet, eh? Check out stories from their blog here.

The Big Green Double Decker Bus

It’s not just Americans that are out there doing rad conversions with buses. Adam Collier-Woods from Wealden in East Sussex bought this 1982 green double decker bus on eBay for £4,500.

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He spent £10,000 and six months full-time gutting the bus and making it into a second home. It’s now got two double bedrooms, sofas, a kitchen and a wood-burning stove. Now he rents it out to holidaymakers. You can stay in it for £150 per night. Visit their website here

 

The Emerald Gypsy

This is probably our oldest bus so far – a 1949 Ford school bus turned into this beautifully restored retro home. It’s got a wood-clad interior, a roof deck, and a double bed with a great view from the back door. What more could you want? For seven years, it carried the owners across northwestern USA. Now it lives in Vermont.

The Modern Israeli Bus

Famous Israeli interior designer Tally Saul and Hagit remodelled this discarded bus into a super modern living space. They went for something a bit more luxurious than your average bus conversion. It’s got a chrome fitted kitchen and diner with a full bathroom, kitchen and of course, air conditioning. If you didn’t see the windows and the exterior, you’d just think it was a really swanky, odd-shaped apartment.

Riley The School Bus

This was another unbelievable find on Craigslist – a 1979 Bluebird school bus called Riley. “We named it Riley, as in ‘The Life of Riley,’ which pretty well sums up the contented quality of life aboard,” Caroline West, the owner, told Design Sponge. Caroline and Marco Khalil wanted to buy a van big enough to house their pop-up shop, Eight Inch Rule. When they came across the school bus, it seemed perfect.

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The floor is covered in vinyl tile, a timber daybed and plenty of storage. Amazingly, it only took 10 days for the couple of renovate the bus. Now it lives as a outhouse on their property and they often drive it to the seaside for weekend camping trips.

The Country Living Panoramic Bus

So this one’s got that country kitchen thing going on, there’s no denying it’s a really rad design. The Robinson family took this old Panoramic Bus and converted into a garden home in Hay-on-Wye, UK. With retro furniture, solar-powered lights and lots of freshly cut flowers, this would be an ideal place to rent out for a weekend. Check out their website here for more info.

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1959 Chevrolet Viking Short Bus

How about a 1950s bus turned home-on-wheels? This one’s had a really nice job done on it by architecture firm Winkelman Architecture. We like the wood panelling and retro stylings. It’s got a queen sized foldaway bed, plus full plumbing and power. You would look like a total boss if you rocked up to the beach in this, don’t you think?

Hank Bought A Bus

Hank is an architecture student. He bought a bus and converted it for his final project. The great thing about Hank’s bus is it’s purely practical. There are no fancy decorations or fluffy cushions. It’s all functional – from the foldaway bunks to the multi-purpose surfaces for eating/sleeping/working/storage. Everything has been cleverly worked out to be ergonomic and sleek. Read more about his conversion here.