Bulgarian Vardo by Cennydd Hywel Rees

I apologize for the paucity of posts, but working on our next book, Rolling Homes, has been taking all my time.

I’ve avoided posting any of the material from the book because it won’t be available until June or July, but here’s an exception.

Serendipity materializes at the last moment!

We’ve been working on this book for about a year and half now and were down to one remaining page to fill.

Flash back to 2016 when someone (anonymously) sent us a photograph of this perfect little vardo — one of those rare little structures where everything is perfect. It’s a delight. Like the creations of Lloyd House or Louie Frazier, all the elements are working, and I’ll say to myself, “Oh yeah!”

I posted it on my blog, asking if anyone knew where it was or who built it. No response.

Two days ago (six years later), I get an email from Bulgaria and Cen tells me that he is a mystery builder. Voila!

Here are the details from my new friend and kindred spirit in Bulgaria.

–LK


Originally built as a play space for my daughter and as a guest house, my camping karutsa design has a long heritage and has taken both me and my family on a wonderful journey.

Karutsas, pulled by horses or donkeys, were part of a way of life now disappearing in Bulgaria.

This one was built from recycled materials, and sleeps 1-3 people with comfort and style. A twist on its larger gypsy cousins, its distilled and refined design is a pure joy to be in. Once you enter, you don’t want to leave.

Insulated and weather proof, you can relax comfortably inside, you can view nature, read a book, or just be.

Deceptive from the outside, the inside space is light and airy. The step-up, step-in, sit-down porch, shelves, hooks, and storage compartment provide a nautical style living system. The outside kitchen and bathroom with tarp increase its overall usability.

This prototype has been just that. Its latest incarnation is evolving into what I hope will become a true relative of its Bulgarian cousins. A true modern hybrid, yet sympathetic to its origins and ethos.

They say form follows function — these wagons are like the Canadian canoe: just about impossible to improve upon, yet the design can be tweaked.

As we move into this new sustainable era, I hope to see my new lightweight designs again traveling the Balkans. A rolling, tiny home, fit for purpose, fit for use.

I owe a great deal to you, your work, and passions, Lloyd, and may it long continue — your books now give just as much pleasure to my children as they still do to me. I can’t count the number of people I have lent them to here in Bulgaria — a constant volley of wow and wowwwwww every time.

Thanks again, Lloyd — the biggest hugs from us all in Bulgaria. You are welcome here any time.

–Cen

About Lloyd Kahn

Lloyd Kahn started building his own home in the early '60s and went on to publish books showing homeowners how they could build their own homes with their own hands. He got his start in publishing by working as the shelter editor of the Whole Earth Catalog with Stewart Brand in the late '60s. He has since authored six highly-graphic books on homemade building, all of which are interrelated. The books, "The Shelter Library Of Building Books," include Shelter, Shelter II (1978), Home Work (2004), Builders of the Pacific Coast (2008), Tiny Homes (2012), and Tiny Homes on the Move (2014). Lloyd operates from Northern California studio built of recycled lumber, set in the midst of a vegetable garden, and hooked into the world via five Mac computers. You can check out videos (one with over 450,000 views) on Lloyd by doing a search on YouTube:

4 Responses to Bulgarian Vardo by Cennydd Hywel Rees

  1. Very interesting – and strange. Either you, or someone else, posted this picture years ago with a request for information about it. I figured out from the Cyrillic license plate on the front, that it was licensed in the Bulgarian town of Sofronievo. I seem to remember having a comments discussion with someone about this and also the Bulgarian newspapers that were fixed to the inside walls. Or maybe I’m imagining the whole thing, because I’m not as young as I was!

  2. Hi Lloyd, Thanks for your blog. It always makes me happier after seeing your influence on people. People all across the globe like this super guy Cen. Such an incredible simple low tech and inspiring build!
    Forever a fan up the coast in Petrolia Cedar Bear McCulloch-Clow

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