The phrase “camper van” conjures visions of hand-painted 1970s Volkswagen buses with curtains in the windows, parked in front of your house for a suspiciously long time. Long synonymous with hippie culture, these vans have come a long way in the decades since, and many are going “stealth,” meaning you can?t tell from the outside that the inside is livable. Modern DIY van conversions typically use a standard cargo van, passenger van, or Sprinter van (which features a high ceiling) as a base for fully customized interiors, which range from a basic bed platform and a few shelves to beautifully appointed mini homes on wheels.
“This Moving House” falls into the latter category. Owner Jack Richens had previously converted an old mail delivery van and wanted to take his skills to the next level. This time, he purchased a secondhand 2012 Mercedes Benz Sprinter with a long wheel base for roughly $10,000 and spent another $8,500 on materials, fixtures, and equipment to convert it to a comfortable camper. His girlfriend designed the interiors, and he built them himself, with help from his father.
“Following the undignified death of my old post office camper conversion, my girlfriend and I found that life without a van is considerably less fun,” says Richens. “After a great deal of shopping around we found that, almost without exception, camper vans are impractical, motorhomes are ugly, and canal boats don?t do 80 miles per hour....