The Ugly Truckling is a house truck that was hand built by a woman named Kai in British Columbia over the course of many years. She is a carpenter and an artist, so she did all of the design and woodworking while her husband, Ben, worked on the systems for electricity and gas. Kai and Ben have lived in the house truck full time for almost 8 years now!
She used red cedar driftwood for the shakes on the upper half, and cedar board and batten on the lower half. They’ve used mostly reclaimed and salvaged materials, like wood from old train boxcars, antique brass door handles and light switches, thrifted light fixtures, wooden windows, porthole windows, and more!
The house truck has a cozy living room with a built-in sofa that slides out to convert into a guest bed with loads of hidden storage for shoes and gear built into it. Kai built the kitchen using locally sourced wood from trees native to BC, like alder, maple, and cedar.
A little closer to the front of the truck is a walkthrough bathroom with a composting toilet on the left, and a shower stall on the left that is made from half of an old wine barrel and serves as a small soaker tub that you can sit in.
Up the ladder, you find the cozy loft that sits above the cab of the truck and features a lovely porthole window that Ben salvaged from a shipwreck as a gift for Kai.
Kai was inspired to build a magical tiny home on wheels after finding books from the 1970s about rolling homes, as well as books by Lloyd Kahn like Shelter and Homework. The Ugly Truckling is actually featured in his latest book, Rolling Homes!
You can watch the video at www.youtube.com