Two Hampshire College students received grants from the R.W. Kern Center to help convert aging vehicles into mobile sustainable tiny homes. We’ve been following the progress of Colin McIntire and Emery Powell as they separately spent the school year working on their post-grad homes. Both Colin and Emery used RWKC funding to purchase and install their photovoltaic solar systems. Read their latest project updates below.


The rusty inside of a gutted bus with no floor that has a welder melting floor metal together. Sparks are flying

Colin received an RWKC grant to help pay for his mobile tiny home’s photovoltaic solar system.

MAY 21, 2020 – Colin’s mobile tiny home, renovated from a 1999 Ford F-550 shuttle bus, is still in progress. This summer, Colin plans to finish making his bus livable. He hopes to drive it back to campus for Hampshire College’s 50th anniversary celebration in the fall. Colin hopes that this project will serve as his jumping-off point to keep designing and building sustainable homes, especially unconventional ones like his next project on the horizon: a floating home.

Click here to read more about Colin’s project.

Emery received an RWKC grant to help fund the renovation of Winnie, their 1987-RV-turned-tiny-house.

MAY 25, 2020 – Winnie now runs off solar power and is happily settled in a local backyard. The exterior walls still need a new coat of paint, but the inside framing is almost done, and the propane stove and stove vent are up and running. Building has slowed a bit due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but Emery and their partner plan to officially move in at the end of summer, making Winnie their full-time, low-cost home.

To learn more about Emery’s project, visit Winnie’s Travels on YouTube or see other posts they are featured in on our website.

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