autoevolution
 

With a Name Like Caboose You Know This Trailer Home Is More Than Just Junk in the Trunk

There's an appeal to being able to pick up your home and move a few hundred miles away. Well, that's basically how one tiny house manufacturer from Utah got started, Wheelhaus.
Caboose Tiny House 10 photos
Photo: Wheelhaus
Caboose Tiny House LoftCaboose Tiny House Living RoomCaboose Tiny House RenderingCaboose Tiny House FloorplanCaboose Tiny HouseCaboose Tiny HouseCaboose Tiny House BedroomCaboose Tiny HouseCaboose Tiny House
Folks, Wheelhaus is a crew born in Salt Lake City, Utah, by founder and CEO Jamie Mackay. Coming from a family with a background in log cabin construction and bent on creating his own "recreational park trailer," it wasn't long before he realized he had to do things his own way to achieve his version of perfection. With that in mind, let's take a journey through one perfect flagship that this crew managed to create over the years.

It's been dubbed the Wedge Caboose, or Caboose for short, and no, it doesn't refer to an overly large gluteus maximus, but the last car you see attached to the end of a freight train. Honestly, once you've learned what this tiny home is all about, you may consider its name rather fitting, seeing as how a caboose serves the purpose of providing shelter for a crew.

For the sake of the next few minutes, I want you to pretend that you and your crew (family) have decided to spend at least $174,500 (€165,600 at current exchange rates) on 400 square feet (37.2 square meters) of mobile living space. When that happens, you'll receive a habitat set up on a steel trailer with five axles or more, depending on how heavy your home is.

Caboose Tiny House
Photo: Wheelhaus
Now, let's say you decided to spend a bit more cash on things and aim for a model like the one in the images. When it's finally dropped off on your doorstep or park grounds, the main features sure to invite are the elevated deck spaces where you and your family can enjoy tea and coffee after breakfast. Other decks can be added, offering other areas from which to view the world around.

From these decks, you'll be able to enter your home, and as you do, you enter either the living room or access the bathroom directly. If this abode is used for parties, separate bathroom access is not to be taken for granted. You'll find the bedroom at the far end of the home, and here too, a patio entrance can be added. One final space I'd like to point out is the loft that sits stretching above the kitchen and over half of the bedroom.

When you put all that together and a few thousand dollars more, you'll be privy to a habitat with hardwood flooring, wood furniture, leather seats, and even shag carpeting has a place here. Need to cook meals for up to six people? Not a problem for the fully stocked kitchen. Throwing a party? The living room and countless decks are there for that.

Caboose Tiny House Living Room
Photo: Wheelhaus
I need to point out that you can customize this home to be whatever you want. For example, you can redesign the loft to store summer gear or do that to the bedroom and turn it into a garage; your imagination is the only limit. That roof looks like it can handle solar power too, and that's a must for any off-grid habitat. Once you're tired of the park or landscape you've been living in for the past few days, weeks, or months, pull up an adequate vehicle, preferably an 18-wheeler, and off you go.

As I dove deeper into the Caboose (don't dwell on the words you just read), I wondered how much my own version would cost me. After adding skirting, fireplace, sliding doors, HVAC system, and a few other touches, I was looking at a home priced around $210,000, and that's without any other systems I may want or need. Nonetheless, it's a machine worth considering if you're looking to join thousands of other nomads experiencing life their way.
If you liked the article, please follow us:  Google News icon Google News Youtube Instagram X (Twitter)

Editor's note: The image gallery displays Caboose units with and without a wheeled trailer.

About the author: Cristian Curmei
Cristian Curmei profile photo

A bit of a nomad at heart (being born in Europe and raised in several places in the USA), Cristian is enamored with travel trailers, campers and bikes. He also tests and writes about urban means of transportation like scooters, mopeds and e-bikes (when he's not busy hosting our video stories and guides).
Full profile

 

Would you like AUTOEVOLUTION to send you notifications?

You will only receive our top stories