When asked why she became a nomad, Mary said, “I want less, and I want to enjoy more. I want to live free from the ways of the world and into more genuineness.” So with a little help from friends, relatives and the nomad community she built a very comfortable home on wheels.

One thing making that comfort possible is a wood stove. “It’s a Dwarf 3kw Lite from tinywoodstove.com. I installed it myself, so you could, too.” The stove is 10 inches wide, 8.5 inches deep, 17 inches tall, and weighs 55 pounds. Mary burns free scrap lumber and the stove can generate up to 10,000 BTUs, which is more than enough for a van.

Mary also created the functional and attractive heat shield behind the stove from a repurposed wrought iron door and hammered copper.

Keeping with the functional and attractive theme, Mary installed a stained glass porthole she had made. She’ll gladly teach others how to do it.

If you have a build-out idea you’d like to share, send photos and descriptions to editor.crvl@gmail.com.