A couple converted a 280-square-foot, double-decker bus from London into a tiny home. Take a look inside.
Monica Humphries
- Hope and Manny Hernandez convert people's buses and vans into tiny spaces for a living.
- They recently transformed a 1957 double-decker bus from London into a modern tiny home for $32,000.
Earlier this year, Hope and Manny Hernandez set out on the road in a 187-square-foot minibus they renovated themselves.
Hope and Manny Hernandez spent seven months and $35,000 in 2020 buying and renovating every element of their new tiny home.
By April 2021, they had set out to record their brewery stops and national park visits on their Instagram and TikTok accounts.
But they didn't expect the adventure to turn into a full-time career. Since renovating their own bus, the couple has made converting other people's vans and buses their livelihood.
The Hernandezes connected with people looking to hire someone to convert their vans, buses, and tiny homes through social media.
Realizing there was a need for renovators, the couple decided to make a career switch and fill that gap, the couple told Insider.
Today, they travel across the country in their bus and help people renovate their tiny homes on wheels. By the end of this year, they'll have finished three conversions.
Their most recent project involved a vintage, 280-square-foot, double-decker bus originally from London.
The owner of a dilapidated double-decker bus reached out to the Hernandezes on social media and asked if they could transform it into a vacation rental.
The couple was traveling in Massachusetts, and the bus was across the country in San José, California.
But it was a renovation the couple couldn't pass up, the Hernandezes said.
So in September, they hopped in their bus and set out to California. The day they arrived, they started renovating.
Five weeks and $32,000 later, the couple finished the challenging renovation, transforming the bus into a bright, spacious home.
Manny said the couple worked every day for about five weeks renovating the bus.
Initially, the owner planned to spend $30,000 on the conversion, but Manny said the final total came closer to $32,000.
Since the owner didn't have a vision for the bus, the Hernandezes had complete control over the design and style of the bus, Hope said.
They opted for a bright white base with accents of dark blue and gold.
"It has a little bit of a royal theme going on," Hope said.
When the Hernandezes first stepped foot onto the bus, it was eerie, dirty, and filled with details from the bus' past, the couple said.
Hope said that they hadn't seen any pictures of the bus' interior before they arrived, so they were "shocked" by the bus' condition.
"It was scary, dark, and there were so many spider webs," Hope said. "I vacuumed up at least 100 spider webs and spiders."
The 1957 Bristol bus originally came from London, where, in its heyday, it navigated around London's popular destinations like the Piccadilly Circus.
About two decades ago, it made its way to California, where it was used by a Girl Scout troop, Hope said. The bus switched owners again, and it sat abandoned on a horse farm for a while.
When the couple received the bus, it had elements from each phase of its past life. Hope said.
She found rules like "no spitting" and "you must have a ticket" underneath layers of paint from when the bus was functioning in London.
There was a bedazzled ceiling, star-themed staircase, and colorful paint chipping off the walls left behind by the troop.
The double-decker bus also accumulated plenty of dust and dirt from its time on the farm.
The couple immediately set about designing a tiny space with a modern feel and an open floorplan.
After the couple's shock came excitement, Hope said.
"We saw the potential right away, and within a day we knew exactly the floor plan we wanted to do to make it feel functional and open at the same time," Hope said.
The couple decided to section the bus by floors. The first floor would be a living area with a kitchen, bathroom, and living room. The second floor would be the bedroom space.
They also gave the bus a fresh coat of its iconic, red paint.
When you first step inside the bus, you're greeted by an entryway with a wood stove, staircase, and gold chandelier.
Manny said that the entryway and the wood staircase were rotting, so they had to add an entirely new set of stairs.
After adding the new stairs, the couple created a nook for a wood stove that serves as a fireplace and warms the entire bus.
Hope also picked out a gold chandelier that matches other gold elements throughout the home.
A little further inside the first floor, you'll find parallel benches, which help form a living room.
The bus is divided into a sleeping area upstairs and living space downstairs on the first floor, which is dedicated to activities like cooking, watching TV, and socializing.
The Hernandezes said they had to get creative with the first-floor layout since the double-decker bus had large wheel wells. So they added benches with secret storage space, which shape the living room.
Behind that, there's a kitchen with over 14 feet of counter space, a minifridge, and a propane stove.
The majority of the first floor is the bus' kitchen.
"We wanted to give the owner a really big kitchen because she said she likes to entertain people," Manny said.
Two countertops add up to 14 feet of counter space along with many traditional kitchen furnishings like a sink, stove, and fridge.
Towards the back of the bus, you'll find a bathroom with a removable, compost toilet.
Navigating around the bus' wheel wells limited where the Hernandezes could place the bus' bathroom, Manny said.
This prevented the couple from putting the bathroom in the back of the bus, but with its gold accents and fake marble tiling, it fits seamlessly into the space next to the kitchen, Hope said.
The compostable toilet can also be lifted out of the shower area, opening the space up more.
In the very back of the bus on the first floor is a bench, which can fold down into a twin-sized bed.
There was a little nook in the back of the first floor, which the couple converted into a foldable bench.
Upstairs, there are two bedroom areas.
When you climb up the double-decker bus' staircase, you immediately see a twin-sized bed.
Behind that, there's a partition that separates this bedroom from the main bedroom. In the main bedroom, there's a queen-sized bed, closet, and storage space underneath the bed.
Manny said the bus has plenty of storage space. Downstairs, there's a bench with hidden storage, and upstairs, the queen bed has cubbies.
Manny said they wanted to create as much storage as possible in the 280-square-foot bus to keep things open.
So they added cubbies underneath the queen bed, tons of cabinets, and secret storage space underneath the bus benches.
The bus isn't operable, so the owner plans to use it as a stationary vacation rental, Manny said.
The bus will remain a permanent tiny house on the owner's property. Manny said the owner plans to use it to host family, friends, and rent it out to strangers.
The renovation had plenty of challenges, but the couple said they're proud of the finished project.
From dealing with two popped tires to a crumbling staircase, the couple said the renovation was one of the most challenging projects they've done to date.
They added they learned so much from the experience and are proud of the finished double-decker.
"It was covered in dirt, dust, spiders," Hope said. "And we made it something beautiful."
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