MASSACHUSETTS — A 28-year-old man from Massachusetts spent 200 days converting a school bus into a small penthouse on wheels after losing his job during the coronavirus pandemic.
Craig Gordnier had moved back in with his parents when he made the decision last May to purchase a used 1999 Blue Bird school bus for $16,000 and convert it into a mobile home. He flew out to South Dakota where the bus was being held and spent two days driving it back to Massachusetts, according to Gordnier’s Instagram page.
“The entire time I drove this bus I was singing, dancing, and smiling until it hurt,” he said. “I enjoyed the most beautiful road trip of my life through South Dakota, Minnesota, Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio and New York.”
Turning the bus into a livable space involved raising the roof of the vehicle, doing plumbing work so a shower and sink could be installed, and completely redoing the interior with wood panel flooring and faux brick walls.
Gordnier even installed solar panels, a fireplace and espresso bar in the vehicle. The bus was also repainted from yellow to a matte gray.
It cost a little under $24,000 for him to complete the project, according to the Daily Mail.
“The build put the greatest challenges in front of me, and I am so thankful for the opportunity to solve my way out of the solar, welding, plumbing, electrical, carpentry, mechanics and design labyrinth that was, this bus,” Gordnier wrote in a later Instagram post. “I used every opportunity I saw to be better. The bus built me. I built the bus.”
Since completing work on the bus, Gordnier has relocated from Massachusetts to South Carolina.
