Lola the City Bus Tiny Home Has Dual Slide-Outs, Gorgeous Soaking Tub, and Wine Cellar

Lola is actually a bus conversion, a 2008 Gillig low-floor city transit bus turned into a tiny home and permanent residence of Krystle and Erick Lopez, two professionals who decided to take their passions and start a business that didn't have to entail giving up their day job. The 40-foot (12.1-meter) LeeTran bus is the Lopezes' second conversion and perhaps their most famous because it often makes appearances at tiny house events and conventions where it shows just how much you can achieve with relatively little.

Lola is bigger than the skoolie conversions we've seen recently, but it's also far more luxurious and beautiful. It's spacious and airy and packs functionality comparable to what you'd get from a brick-and-mortar home. The fact that it can sleep as many as six people in absolute comfort and offers amenities like a wine cellar, a full-size kitchen, and a soaking bathtub also work in its favor, setting it apart from similar tiny houses on wheels.

And that's not an easy feat. It takes something really special to stand out on today's crowded scene of tiny houses, skoolie and bus conversions, and all types of mobile homes, each and every one of them fighting for the spotlight and those extra five minutes of coverage that can be monetized on social media. Mobile homes of all dimensions, sizes, and budgets are excellent examples of creativity because they need to be multi-functional without compromising aesthetics while delivering that impossible-to-define "wow" that gets people's attention.

In a context where there are so many beautiful and highly innovative mobile homes, Lola is still a standout. It may have started as a city bus that was long past its prime, but it’s now a gorgeous and quite luxurious home with plenty of space for guests and a handful of features you're not likely to get on any other bus conversion.

That Krystle and Erick are both creative types helped. Krystle is an occupational therapist, and Erick is an artist and an auto enthusiast. Their first project was a 33-foot (10-meter) Forest River Vibe travel trailer they renovated for a couple with a special needs child, which laid the groundwork for their adaptive reno mobile home business.

For their own mobile home, which would also serve as showcase model for their experience and know-how, they went off the beaten track. First, they "imported" slide-outs from the RV industry, cutting two large sections on either side of the bus so that they could get 4 feet (1.2 meters) width of additional space. In the video tour below, Krystle admits that it was perhaps the "craziest" and least favorite decision in a string of crazy decisions that marked progress on the project, but it worked out well in the end.

"Well" might be an understatement. Lola is very spacious and has a very homey vibe through a combination of apartment-sized appliances or features and auto-inspired design choices. Painted a most delicious bleu-ciel with faux wood striping and fake whitewalls, it has a breezy, light interior that brings to mind lazy summer days on the Mediterranean.

The space isn't just pretty to look at; it's also functional in a way that's rare in mobile homes. Krystle emphasizes their desire for a design that wouldn't require moving too many items to get to the one you need or over-complicating a simple task such as that of making the bed for the guests. In short, you don't get furniture or other items with multiple-functionality.

Lola has two entrances like in the original layout, but the doors are not the original bus doors. Right behind the driver's cab is the laundry room (a very unusual phrase to type when covering a bus conversion) with a washer and dryer set that rivals what you'd find in a laundromat and integrated storage. Opposite that is a large wooden storage unit for miscellaneous and maintenance stuff.

The kitchen and the living room, which sit facing each other, are located in the slide-outs, so you get a large open space when they're deployed. The kitchen is residential in size and appliances, with a 4-burner propane stove and oven, a farmhouse sink, plenty of counterspace, and a residential fridge. The living room holds a couch that integrates storage and can convert into a bed for two. The piece du resistance is at the foot of the couch: a sunken wine cellar under plexiglass with mood lighting.

The bathroom is divided into three separate areas, a small sink with vanity on one side, a cubicle for the RV toilet that empties into its own 18-gallon (68-liter) tank, and a gorgeous soaking bathtub made of reclaimed wood behind a curtain. Opposite the tub is the bunk bed area, with extra-long bunks that can accommodate two more guests. The main bedroom is at the rear, where there's also a mini-split for AC and heating and more storage options.

Lola has solar panels and batteries but runs appliances on shore power or if need be, the backup generator. Erick is planning an upgrade on the solar system because it's not enough even for the AC in the current configuration. When on the road, it relies on a 100-gallon (378.5-liter) tank for freshwater and a similarly-sized one for gray. The toilet tank is good for two weeks of us, and Erick added a gas gauge in the flooring to show when the time comes for emptying.

Lola isn't just Krystle and Erick's home, a showcase model, and a good example of how you can make luxury functional in real life: it's also a star. Named Best in Show and Best Bus in 2021 and 2022 at tiny house festivals in Florida and Georgia, it was also featured on Living Smaller on A&E in the summer of 2022. She's a beauty, and she has the laurels to prove it.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Krystle&Erick | @StudioExpress.Art (@lopez_aroundtheworld)