Jessie Lipskin of Asbury Park, New Jersey grew up with limited space, so having a home with minimal square footage didn’t bother her.
She also didn’t mind living a minimalistic life.
“I’ve always been very organized and love the idea of holding onto only what you really need,” she said in a piece for Apartment Therapy. “For me, that mainly includes things that hold sentimental value, particularly items that were handed down to me from my family.”
So, when she heard about the tiny home mobile lifestyle, she jumped on board. She bought an old vintage bus and decided to convert it into a tiny home.
All she had to do was insure and register it as an RV.
She found a bus on eBay that she fell in love with and spent the next three years renovating it.
She purchased the 1966 GMC Commuter Greyhound for $7,000.
She spent a total of $125,000 on the renovation.
“When I walk in, it feels huge,” she “It feels even bigger than my New York City apartment,” she told ABC News.
Her bus is about 400-square-feet and has about 100,000 miles on it.
She also had a lot of help making the renovations.
“I love DIY, however, I don’t have experience with plumbing, electrical, carpentry needed for this project,” she told Bored Panda.
“The big challenge was that it was very different from working on a home that’s fixed in one location. I constantly had to account for movement, on top of that the angles of the bus and slanted style windows made it challenging to design the best possible layout and curved woodworking. Levels were useless as the bus incline changes depending on location, it was all about calculating angles. This added a lot of time onto the project.”
She gave the bus a new coat of white paint to give a sleeker and more modern look.
She also gutted the interior and sold its seats to a restaurant.
She then had to frame out the different spaces, such as the bedroom, bathroom, and closets.
She has a huge kitchen counter space with lots of cabinets.
Her home has a good sized sink and stove.
“Went with the IGLOO (33 in. W 5.5 cu. ft.) Side by Side Refrigerator in Silver, Counter Depth from Home Depot. It’s a fridge/freezer,” she said.
She also had a custom-made bench installed. The bedroom is at the back of the bus and includes a shelf for books and hidden storage space.
She also has pretty decent closet space.
“The bathroom has mahogany wood slotted flooring that drains for drying off post-shower. The shower drain connects to the floor drain and they both lead to the gray water tank which is mounted under the bus,” she says.
She didn’t even have her license before he bought the bus.
“I can’t drive it myself! I grew up in New York City and I finally learned how to drive in my mid-twenties. Unfortunately, I have yet to learn how to drive a stick shift!” she said. “I have made lots of friends with the ability to drive a manual 40-foot bus without power steering!”
ABC News said the bus was listed for $149,000.
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