Thursday, September 06, 2007

Victorian Reading Wagon - The Private House


There are more sheds on wheels than shepherds' huts or gypsy caravans. Felicity Loudon, who runs The Private House , has this Victorian showman's caravan (pictured above) in the grounds of her farm in Oxfordshire (the desk and daybed are pictured below). This is how The Times describes it:
"The caravan is a contemporary version of a Victorian “Reading Wagon”, a traditional circus artiste’s travelling home. The compact 15ft-long and 7ft-wide cabin is raised from the ground on a double-axled steel trailer-base. The exterior of the cabin is clad in black wood panelling and topped with a corrugated tin roof."

Like a revolving shed, one of the beauties of being on wheels is that it can be moved during the year or even during the day, however the whim takes you. During the autumn it has to be near the house in order to be plugged in to the mains electrics. Loudon has used the wagon as a guest room but has now started making them to order, including as a garden office. You can read more about the wagon and its rather luxurious interior in The Times.

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