Meet Lofty, a custom, beautifully crafted cabin on wheels!
I built her out to live in myself, intending it to be more or less forever and I’ve done so for nearly 4 very happy years; she has never failed us and has taken us from the Ocean to the mountains of the PNW and up into the wilds of Canada and back, but I’m now moving out of the country and the time has come for her to find another adventure partner
Built inside the 16’ aluminum box on a classic Chevy van, Lofty has everything you need to drive away into the sunset today.. or park her up on a piece of land and you have an instant, quirky and beautiful Airbnb.
I designed her to be not a campervan but truly a tiny home on wheels and as such she even has a full bathtub (it’s hidden under the sofa). The luxury of having a hot bubble bath next to the fire in winter really cannot be overstated! I even chose the woodstove because it has windows on the sides so you can see the flames from the tub.
She also includes a shower, portable Gottago toilet (with both composting and chemical cassettes, a high powered Ferrion water heater (to fill that tub, or take a long hot shower), tiny portable woodstove and oven, underfloor heat mats, electric under counter heater, diesel heater (not currently insalled but included), oven/airfryer, propane hob, full sized vintage style fridge freezer and an AC under the bed. Tons of storage in cupboards, a clothing closet with charging bay and a huge storage space under the bed. But that’s not all!
She’s totally off grid, with 4800wh of battery (one 48V 100AH Li-ion), a 3500w all-in-one inverter, charger and mppt, one 435w solar panel mounted on the roof plus two additional that can be deployed at a park up, or could be added to the roof as well. She’s also set up for shore power and water connection when needed.
There’s a 65 gallon interior fresh water tank, one 55 gallon grey water tank mounted below and one 10 gallon portable tank for the kitchen sink.
She also comes with step ladder, a collapsable 12’ ladder (to reach the roof), all waste and fresh water hoses, including one heated water hose (and if you’ve ever wintered in a van you’ll know how essential that is), 30a shore power cables with all possible adaptors, stabilizers for windy park ups and a kit box on the back that doubles as a tiny deck for that morning coffee.
Important notes:
Because I built this very specifically for me, and at the time, my very old dog, it’s set up for one very independent person. I took out one of the front cab seats to allow my dog easier entry and have a large storage tote there instead – but it could quite easily be replaced (the mounts are still there).
The bed is a twin XL – essentially half a King. I had been planning to extend that section over the cab, in order to have a larger bed and to install a larger skylight over the bed. This could be done by metal fabricators.
This type of truck allows for the box on the back to be removed, so if desired it can be swapped onto a newer chassis, or plopped onto a concrete pad for an instant off-grid cabin.
Lofty is priced to reflect the age of the vehicle along with the versatility, style and comfort of the interior fit.
