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Couple Bought A School Bus For $7,500, Spent Another $42,500 To Transform It Into A Cool 298 sq ft House On Wheels
Homes come in all shapes and sizes. Whether it’s a castle, or a house on water, or a home with a very functional jail in the basement, the sky’s the limit when it comes to living space.
You can even do what this young couple did—got themselves an old-school school bus and made it more than a mere mode of mass transportation by converting it into a quite impressive RV of sorts where the two and their lovely dog now live.
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Meet Christine Saldana and Kathy Mariscal, a couple who decided to get an unorthodox piece of living space
Image credits: Christine Saldana and Kathy Mariscal
Meet Christine Saldana and Kathy Mariscal, a couple who have acquired a piece of mass transport—a majestic 1988 Crown Coach school bus—in hopes of converting it into a home on wheels.
Now, before you think that they did it so that they could travel—no, they were much more practical about it. In truth, the Californian couple wanted to get married, and both a wedding and living in Los Angeles aren’t the most budget-friendly things.
The two got themselves a bus that they have converted into a fully-furnished 298sqf (27.7sqm) home
Image credits: Christine Saldana and Kathy Mariscal
Image credits: Christine Saldana and Kathy Mariscal
So, they came up with a solution. Instead of living in their separate apartments (which amounted to around $4,500 of monthly rent), they bought a late ‘80s school bus that was manufactured by the now defunct LA-based Crown Coach Corporation for $7,500.
Very soon after this, they realized that though they were very confident and capable of doing a lot of things to make the bus-home—which has been adorably dubbed Adelita—a reality, they still needed help from professionals, who took care of the walls, the AC, the plumbing, electrical systems, and many other things.
While the bus itself cost $7,500, renovating it ramped up the cost to an approximate total of $50,000
Image credits: Christine Saldana and Kathy Mariscal
Image credits: Christine Saldana and Kathy Mariscal
The two also were lucky to have family that owns a furniture business—much of the furniture found in their new home on wheels was custom made with the help of their family. This in turn allowed them to focus on designing the living space from scratch.
The home features all of the essentials that one might need in a living space. A spacious living room, a kitchen, a closet and a baby area, a bathroom, a bedroom, and the driver’s area are all spread across the 298-square-foot (or 27.7-square-meter) bus. On top of this, there’s electricity and water.
It has a living room, a kitchen, a dining area, a bedroom, a bathroom, and still retains its driving functionality
Image credits: Christine Saldana and Kathy Mariscal
The interior is cozy, modern, and minimalistic. The living room sports a curved sofa, sofa chair, a bookshelf, and a TV cabinet, the bedroom fits an entire queen-sized bed and a nightstand, the kitchen is equipped with the essentials: a sink, a fridge, cooking appliances, and an entire dining area, and the bathroom fits a sink, a toilet, and a shower.
And, mind you, this entire area is planned out for two people, plus their adorable doggo named Lolita, which makes this bus-to-home conversion even more impressive than it is.
Much of the renovation work was done by professionals, but the ladies designed it all from scratch
Image credits: Christine Saldana and Kathy Mariscal
Check out the video tour of the bus below
View this post on Instagram
In the end, the two estimate that the whole project ended up costing them around $50,000. Now, given that the median price of a home in the LA metropolitan area is around a half a million bucks, you can guess just how much money they have potentially saved, and even made an adventure out of it!
For those wondering if the bus is actually functional, the answer is yes. In fact, when the pandemic struck, Mariscal got a new job in Houston, Texas, so they drove there from Los Angeles, hitting some touristy spots along the way. The couple now lives in an RV park and pays just $800 a month for the lot.
The idea to live in a bus stemmed from the fact that the two were planning a wedding and needed to save money on accommodations and other necessities
Image credits: Christine Saldana and Kathy Mariscal
Image credits: Christine Saldana and Kathy Mariscal
Image credits: Christine Saldana and Kathy Mariscal
It was never their plan to travel, though they do take weekend trips. Traveling is just a bonus to the main function of the bus—to support a stable minimalist lifestyle. You can see more of the bus and their life on their Instagram page.
The ability to travel is definitely a bonus—during the pandemic, they took a road trip from LA to Houston because Mariscal landed a job there
Image credits: Christine Saldana and Kathy Mariscal
Image credits: Christine Saldana and Kathy Mariscal
Image credits: Christine Saldana and Kathy Mariscal
If you want more bus-home news, Bored Panda has covered other buses that were converted into homes, namely here and here. But before you go, let us know your thoughts on this. Do you live—or would like to live—in a bus? Let us know in the comment section below!
What do you think ?
M O'Connell 3 years ago
RV air conditioning, $2k installed. Water tanks (potable, gray & black) $1k, plus all the other plumbing fixtures and piping ($1k) and probably $3k in labor. Electricians are $100/hr + materials (figure $3-4k). That's 11k and you haven't even started putting finishes on yet. Busses aren't cheap to repair mechanically either, and you can guarantee it needed ALL of the regular maintenance items. An in-frame rebuild for a 6-71 is $5k, not to mention brake linings, air lines, clutch, wheel bearings, air bags, and who-knows what else special stuff related to running a 2-stroke diesel in California. $50K still sounds like a good deal compared to what it buys you for a new RV.
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M O'Connell 3 years ago
RV air conditioning, $2k installed. Water tanks (potable, gray & black) $1k, plus all the other plumbing fixtures and piping ($1k) and probably $3k in labor. Electricians are $100/hr + materials (figure $3-4k). That's 11k and you haven't even started putting finishes on yet. Busses aren't cheap to repair mechanically either, and you can guarantee it needed ALL of the regular maintenance items. An in-frame rebuild for a 6-71 is $5k, not to mention brake linings, air lines, clutch, wheel bearings, air bags, and who-knows what else special stuff related to running a 2-stroke diesel in California. $50K still sounds like a good deal compared to what it buys you for a new RV.
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