This Wagon is Green in More Ways than One

By Dori Schatell

What do you do when you're Civil War reenactors and tired of putting up and taking down a tent and a trailer full of gear? When you reenact as Roma (Gypsies), you build a Gypsy caravan wagon, or Vardo, of course. My husband, Jim, and I decided to build a Vardo that would look like it belonged in 1865—on a trailer so we could tow it. The Vardo needed to be lightweight, but strong enough to withstand hurricane force winds on the highway. It had to be insulated, to keep us warm when it was cool, and cool when it was hot. To make things more complex, Jim is allergic to formaldehyde, which is in plywood, chipboard, oriented strand board, and fiberboard, so we couldn't use any of these.

The solution? ThermaSteel! Lightweight, green, insulated (3” thick walls), strong—I wanted to knock my house down and rebuild with it! Instead, in November, 2008, we sent drawings and a photo of a Vardo to Brandon , who “panelized” it and drew up plans. Over the winter, we found cedar siding from an old shed and a door on Craigslist, fence pickets for shutters, perfect windows at the Habitat for Humanity ReStore, and painted lots of decorative carvings. In March, 2009, we pushed “go” for making up the panels and bought a trailer, and in April we drove to Radford , VA to build the structure. Raymond Thornton, who retired from ThermaSteel, helped Jim and I, my brother, and his girlfriend put up the panels and roof, and we named her Brigitte…Vardo. Brigitte was done in time for our first event Memorial Day weekend, and she's been a huge hit in our Historical Timekeepers reenacting group.