The Emerald Gypsy Skoolie: our newly renovated school bus offers all of the perfect “glamping” amenities, and sleeps up to 4 people! She is certainly our most unique rental and possibly the one with the most spontaneous and romantic story.
It was a little over two years ago when I was sitting at our local brewery, Gravity Brewworks, with my builder friend, that I asked the question: “Will you convert a big yellow school bus into a glamping-mobile?”
Seth is a contractor, and we had done a few projects together already. He agreed to my newest idea, although I’m not sure he knew I was serious. But serious I was!
The bus was purchased and delivered to his house a week later! It had previously been used on a Construction site and was just filthy. We started by taking the seats out, which was a big job. Then, we took up the rubberized floor and got to the bare metal. There were some rusty spots that needed treatment, but otherwise it was in good shape. It was time to start the build-out!
Once I got the idea into my head that I was going to convert an old school bus into a beautiful Fireside Retreat, I went into full research mode. I read MANY blogs about “Skoolies” and other folks’ experiences with conversion projects. It was fascinating to connect with people who lived in their Skoolie and travel the country! After the planning and research was all done it was time for Seth and I to roll up our sleeves and get to work.
It proved to be a big job in a tiny space (Did I mention that Seth is over 6' tall?) but the process kept us on our toes and definitely challenged us to think outside the box.
Seth is a straight lines/right angles/everything perfectly square kind of guy when it comes to construction and I’m more of an awww-this-is-so-fun kind of girl. Together, as in all of our projects, we managed to meet form and function. We were intentional to kept many of the original features of the bus, like the ceiling lights and the drivers seat. We even used the arm that was originally what opened the door for the handrail and the “rearview” mirror the driver would have used as the vanity mirror. The barnwood came from an old shed that was torn down on the property where Jane's Bend is located.
We’re really proud of our Skoolie project and hope you find it to be a fabulous and quirky getaway here in Mountain View, and maybe you'll be inspired to go travel the country in your own Skoolie!